Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships

One is that these new media provide ways of maintaining friendships under circumstances where, in the past, those friendships would have quietly died because it was no longer possible to meet face to face.

Exchanges have meaning only when there is an existing relationship to give them meaning.

active social media use seemed to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, passive use had the opposite effect and increased the frequency of these symptoms,

Most people are aware that there is something not quite satisfactory about interactions via the internet.

Thomas Fudge’s: typically, people indicated that only 16–20 per cent of the friends listed on their Facebook page could be considered real friends.

no obligation to learn how to compromise.

In reality, everyone else may not actually be having all that much fun, but the internet creates a pressure to appear to be doing so.

One was a clear recognition that not all the friends on Facebook were real friends.

As for the rest, seeing your friends’ posts about the exciting time they are having just makes you more depressed.