Month of October , 2007

An old Turkish proverb goes like this, Bir kahvenin kirk yil hatiri vardir, which translates into English: A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship. One interpretation of the proverb is that no friendship should be taken lightly because friendship is a long-term commitment.

In reality, most female friendships tend to be transitional rather than long-term. As we cycle through life---childhood, high school, college, marriage, children, careers, etc.---we change and grow as do our friendships...

Some people worry that digital technology is eroding the face of friendship as we now know it---that time spent in virtual relationships detracts from real ones. A new report provides evidence to the contrary. Among Americans:

• 48 percent of those interviewed said that social networking sites help them build new relationships

• 44 percent said that social networking sites help them maintain current relationships

This social effect cuts across age groups:...

Another way to friend and befriend---Many women (and men) develop solid friendships with people they meet online. That’s the way I met my friend Pat. She lives on the Jersey Shore and I live in Chappaqua, New York but we are both members of the same writing organization, the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

The friendship began when Pat sent me an email asking a question. As you might expect from two people who love to write and who are both somewhat addicted to the internet, one email led to another...

Characteristically, friendships change over time. And one reason why many of them flounder, is simply because two friends are on different wave lengths in terms of their perspectives about time.

Perhaps her pace is slower than yours. She appears to have more leisure time, while you’re at a phase in life when you are juggling a family and a career...

No surprise. People on Facebook are consumed with friendship, BFFs, besties, and like to rank their friends. Hmmm….wonder how I got there?

An article in this week’s Australian PC World ranks Top Friends (developed by Slide) as the top Facebook application. Among 46 million active users on the site, more than 3 million have signed on to Top Friends as daily users. (That’s about 15% of the total Facebook user base)...

Another reason why the fantasy, Best Friends Forever (BFF), isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: When the all-consuming, all-fulfilling, one-and-only female friendship in your life fizzles out or blows up, you’re left in excruciating pain. And there’s no one to talk to or share your misery with. Generally, you would call your Bestie---but she’s the problem!

If you ever have unexpectedly lost a friendship that you were sure would last forever, you must realize that it is always a good idea to encircle yourself with more than just one best friend...

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Fractured Friendship Survey. The wisdom you shared will definitely enhance my book! I am so appreciative of the sisterhood of women who helped.

 

More to come on the findings soon...

 

Female college students are twice as likely as their male peers to use social networking sites like Facebook (their favorite) and MySpace (ranked second), according to a market research survey from Anderson Analytics. The findings, reported in Advertising Age this week, examined the likes, dislikes, and media preferences of college students between the ages of 18 and 24. The same article mentioned that older women are more reticent than younger ones about networking with each other and sharing information on the internet...

If you have a Facebook page, you’re familiar with the News Feed function that helps friends stay abreast of each other’s Facebook activities. When I saw that one of my friends had joined Journalists and Facebook, I took a look at the group and signed up too. When I saw the Friend Wheel application another friend added, I decided to do the same. And so it goes.

Each time I sign on to Facebook, I still look at what everyone is up to but I wonder whether it’s worth my time given that some of my virtual “friends” and their interests are pretty peripheral to my life...

What’s a little sex between friends? A more common scenario than you might think. Two researchers, Melissa A. Bisson of Wayne State and Timothy R. Levine of Michigan State University (MSU), studied Friends with Benefits (FWBs)---couples who have sexual relations within the context of a casual friendship...