Argument on the nature of friendship:
One of the most essential interpersonal ties is friendship, typically described by two people involved as mutual love, trust, and affection as a general rule and a desire to spend more time together. So, it is an exceptional bond formed by a voluntary game of minds and feelings. It goes beyond sharing blood and romance, unlike other relationships. Even though friendship may differ in intensity and depth, one hallmark of a true friendship is that both individuals mutually decide and consider the other a friend (Shojaei et al., 2021). This meshing creates an authentic friendship that is entirely devoid of any form of one-sidedness, attachment, or admiration. This paper aims to examine the nuances of friendship as a humanistic phenomenon.
In addition, a friendship with someone might also mean that the other person is your friend. Intimacy requires at least one commonality, foundation, and a critical element in friendship: person A’s friendliness towards person B. Meanwhile, person B does not reciprocate those other person A’s feelings. So, this friendship cannot be accurate. It will just be a one-sided connection. If that happens, most discussions go to an acquaintance (Seglow, 2022). Real friendship implies a sense of standard view, acceptance, standing together come hell or high water, and a readiness to hear each other’s inner feelings. It is a unique relationship that transcends friendship and is a linkage spread through intense experiences, a close tie, and a deep emotional link. Nevertheless, friends must refrain from conforming to love their peers’ every part of their characters or activities. Still, friends may be intimate with some of their friend’s peculiarities or fans, but the emotional connection and the feeling of understanding must always last. Divergences, not matching beliefs and views, and exacerbations are organic components of every close-knit relationship (Shojaei et al., 2021). Other than these, what stands out in a friendship is the capability to apprehend difficulties through honest speech, empathy, and a firm decision to keep up with the relationship. A continued and strong dislike or other confronting factors related to values and beliefs would probably cause grave damage to friendship in the long run. Consequently, friendships will either grow apart or go further in the worst way.
Concerning the number of friendships that can be sustained, there is no fixed number, but two types of restraints exist: practical and emotional. Time and high emotional investment are needed to be in deep, intimate relationships with others, which means that someone can create and maintain only a few good and close relationships, which are the only ones that will last at a particular time (Phelan, 2023). These are the main friends with whom we pour out our deepest emotions and have the most enjoyable and unforgettable experiences. We are also strongly tied to this kind of friend for our complete loyalty and support. However, many non-intense or low-commitment casual friendships still require a different degree of input. They could be the pals who might come over for dinner, coffee, or even a group hangout with shared hobbies, but in contrast, they probably do not share the same emotional intimacy with us. Valuable, these relationships do not burden you with time or require many emotional and life resources (Phelan, 2023). On a simple note, friendship is a mutually desired bond or tie of love, trust, and understanding between two people who, regardless of personality/behavioral differences, are prone to perceive each other as friends. A person is confined to having few profoundly personal friends. One has the emotional reserve to accommodate and the time devoted to growth.
Challenges
One who is prone to philosophy, such as Socrates, may reject the obligation of both parties for friendship to exist. They would be discussing the possibility that Person A, without doubt, could value a person as a friend (Person B) even if the feelings in return are not there. To someone who thinks in this way, friendship is a road with a destination determined by Person A and his or her feelings, which do not consider friendship from the point of view of Person B (Shojaei et al., 2021). This idea may be correct from the subject’s standpoint, but it contradicts the common perception of friendship as reciprocity. If we use the concept of “only one person considers the other as a friend” as the driving idea, it would be a “not-friendship” situation, and it is more accurately described as an unrequited confection and affection rather than a true friendship. A friendship cannot exist without the hands-on commitment of the two individuals; therefore, they must cooperate and develop the friendship through a shared sense of empathy, trust, and connectedness (Kempt, 2022). It concerned establishing the relationship between Google Plus and Facebook use and adolescents’ emotional and psychological well-being. Scientists have started noticing a trend in teenagers’ widespread use of social media and its possible impact on their psychological well-being. The investigation aimed to bring the participants’ attention to this vital topic by critically evaluating and analyzing the existing research and empirical data.
A mixed-method technique was applied, incorporating qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. To achieve this, the European Union (EU) has emphasized promoting education, human rights, gender equality, and social inclusion. The first part of the research was quantitative and involved a survey of a large group of adolescents (13-18 years). In contrast, in the second part, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with a select diverse group of adolescents to understand the participants’ subjective experiences with social media platforms. The interviews were conducted on topics including motivation for social media use, evaluation of peer interactions, self-esteem, and psychological health. The qualitative aspect involved me doing the study’s data analysis, collecting the data on more students using the validated psychological assessments and surveys on variables like depression, anxiety, body image, and social comparison tendencies after the study was completed. Those results showed a relationship not only tricky but varied as well between the use of different social media features like selfies, social comparison, and social support on adolescent mental health. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, social media gives individuals tremendous power, yet it entails great responsibility (Seglow, 2022). Students must be mindful of the information they share online and how it may impact their brand. According to the research, there was a possibility that the platforms expose users, especially teens, to negative consequences such as cyberbullying, social comparison, and reinforcement of beauty stereotypes. Researchers took the role of informing about the need for educational programs and support systems to help teenagers build healthy social media habits and be resilient to the probable adverse consequences. This should help convince the philosophically-minded person that most languages and social conventions regard friendship as reciprocal because people worldwide do not hesitate to associate the idea with “friend” (Phelan, 2023). The idea of “a friendship to be one-way” is vague in intellectual terms and implies some absurdity because of its grammatical structure. This script could have brought out the readers’ cases of friendship. It could have challenged them to consider, for example, if a person had not had the friendship, would the person still have been considered a true friend?
Essentially, the purest friendship disregards reproduction and chooses not to fulfill the purpose of family ties and the reason for relationships. Instead, it implies a bond of cooperation between two people on the level of minds and hearts. Simultaneously, these bonds’ degrees of depth and intensity can differ from friend to friend, but little in-depth discussion or different views over time are regular. However, how this friendship is preserved through open communication, empathy, and dedication sets true friendship apart. A strange and incomparable string of events gives us an unshakeable and priceless bond that very few can substitute. This bond delivers unconditional support, companionship, and a feeling of belonging, which is uncommon and makes us feel special.
References
Kempt, H. (2022). Concepts and Theories of Friendship. In Synthetic Friends: A Philosophy of Human-Machine Friendship (pp. 59–94). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Phelan, M. (2023). Rethinking friendship. Inquiry, 66(5), 757–772.
Seglow, J. (2022). On Friendship. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Friendship.
Shojaei, M., Ghanbari, A., Tayyebi, M., & Bahmeei, K. (2021). Examining and understanding the concept (ethics of friendship) from the point of view of Arastoo and Ghazali. Political Sociology of Iran, 3(4).
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