Today I’m visiting with my friend, Mary Gottschalk, on her blog with a look at the topic of friendship in today’s world and how we define it within our social existence of networks, life, and more. Won’t you come join Mary and me to discuss this ever-changing definition?
Henri Nouwen’s quote defines the foundation of a friendship. In looking at online definitions of the word “friendship,” they are many. Not one encompasses the qualities necessary to move from “being friends” to a true and lasting friendship.
The definition found in Urban Dictionary is worth reading and understanding as it relates to today’s ever-growing cybernetic society:
“Something that is much underrated in our society. Friendship is actually a form of love (here I’m not talking exclusively about erotic love). It’s not a lesser form of love than erotic love, only a different form of love. In fact, the ancient Greeks had a word, “phileos”, more or less equating to fraternal/brotherly love (friendship). …” [read more here]
With the birth and exponential growth of social media, we use new words to define or describe friendships and how they are created. As the 2000s rolled by, social media networks burgeoned and we began to meet new people online.
