Facebook friends.. are they really?

I read an article about Facebook friends. The article can be found here.

I thought about this before I joined the social network. Previously, I had a Friendster and Hi5 account. I decided to delete them as I was tired of using social networks - my friends made me a Facebook account and I have stuck to it ever since.

My entry is not about the psychology of joining a social network, but the thought of what online 'friends' are.

Here's a scenario. Let's say you went to an event and you've just met someone. You talk for a bit and soon after you switch names and mention that "I'll add you up on Facebook". The next day you see a friend request from that person, you accept it et voila, they're your friend on Facebook. However, do you truly consider that person as a friend?

I've seen people with more than 1,000 friends on Facebook and I shake my head in disapproval. Out of the 1,000 people, who do you really talk to? Who do you really take notice of? Sure Facebook has the Livefeed where every thing about every one is shown but, what real interest does it have on you?

As the aforementioned article states:

Aristotle claims that there are three types of friendship:

1. Friendship based on utility.
2. Friendship based on pleasure.
3. Friendship based on virtue.

So where do Facebook friends come under? We could say that some friends fall under one of the categories i.e. I could have a friend from one of the society's I've joined at University and we do not communicate outside of the society and purely contact each other for societal reasons, I'd have a utility friendship. Though, does it mean that I would need to have that person on Facebook? It's not like I would need to know what they're having for lunch, thinking about at the time, etc.

To some extent, we could say that our views on Friendship are of C.S Lewis's:

Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, 'What? You too? I thought I was the only one'....

C. S. Lewis (2002 - first published 1960) The Four Loves, London: HarperCollins, pp. 78-9.

Sounds familiar doesn't it? We base our friendships on common interests between parties. Some go further than that to grow into a closer relationship, some stop after a certain period of time.

Our true friends are ones we don't need to contact through Facebook. It would be difficult to have a friendship based on virtue - which is the highest form of friendship according to Aristotle -on Facebook or on any other social network for that matter.

I guess it's time to look through the 'Friends List' again...