friend, n. : a person who you like and enjoy being with
Pretty plain, pretty simple.
In hindsight, we can all probably come to an agreement that MySpace changed the definition of "friend" - even if it was only a minor change. Facebook tagged along a few years later. And then Twitter altered what we think of as a "follower," which Instagram only improved upon in later years.
1. friends
2. people I'd say hi to in the deli
3. people I wouldn't say hi to in the deli
4. complete strangers
5. family
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Now, I live in a very small town, and our deli is really quite top notch. To put it simply, this deli is a hub. Going in there at breakfast or lunch time on a weekend raises an extremely high chance of seeing one or multiple people we know [ think : my old lacrosse coach, my dad's golf partner, my brother's friend from high school, some boy who comes to my house on Christmas, my neighbor's son who never seems to recognize me, etc ]. Some of those people I'd say hi to, and some of them I would not.
- - -
percentage of my followers:
1. friends : 15%
2. people I'd say hi to in the deli : 31%
3. people I wouldn't say hi to in the deli : 26%
4. complete strangers : 18%
5. family : 10%
I have to say that labeling some of my followers was difficult .. Which is, what I think, makes this so interesting.
For instance, there's one girl who's following me - for all intensive purposes, we'll refer to her as Liza Minelli. She's a year older than me, goes to a different school, and really my only connection to her is that we were on the same lacrosse team five years ago. She seems like quite the cool gal. One of those oh-my-God-can-I-be-you type people. Perfect hair, Christmas vacation in Florida, cute boyfriend, bombing Jeep Wrangler to drive through town, etc. #goals, #amIrightladies?
But get this, I don't know her.
She follows me, I follow her, WE LIKE ALL EACH OTHER'S PICTURES, and yet I think the last words we exchanged were "I GOT BALL" - five years ago, on a lacrosse field, in God-knows-where-New-York. Despite all of this, I see her in the deli probably once a week - maybe twice. We make eye contact. And then proceed to interact as strangers would. Does that mean there's just a silent understanding between the two of us? I know you were at Susie Q's house last night - you wore a hot pink top and sat on your boyfriend's lap. And you know I went to dinner at my favorite restaurant in the city. You know I ate pasta. I know you know.
Is this what - with enough time and Instagram's rising popularity - what the definition of "friend" is going to turn into? We know the details of each other's lives, we acknowledge that this is a mutual and reciprocated relationship, and yet we cannot interact in person.
Out of the 96 people I labeled as those I wouldn't say hi to in the deli, I follow 53 of them back. Meaning I have the same relationship with those 53 people as I do with the the famous Liza Minelli. And guys, that's a really weird relationship.
What are your thoughts?
xx MGR
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