Why Label Someone as Your Friend?

[Dannyalcatraz]

I label my friends so I can tell the difference between them and the other stuff in my freezer.

You gonna finish that...HEY, you misspelled "sushi!"

And is this..."Joe-ghurt" any good? It doesn't quite look right.

 

[surfarcher]

Aha! I knew it! This is your knife.

Well actually....

FWIW I can't help "friending" anyone who actually repsonds to me on here

 

[Morrus]

TC raises a good question. Why call it a "Friend"

I'm a tech guy from before FaceBook and MySpace. This whole "Friend" thing baffles me. Namely, because I actually know what a friend is.

The only people on my Friends list on xbox or PS3 are people I personally know.

The only people on my FB friends list are, once again people I know.

What bothers me about the arrangement is that there's no categorization (sure DB has some groups, but that takes time to setup). And I suppose some people would object to being categorized as an "aquaintance", despite that's all the relationship is.

I want my Friends to be listed as Friends in a social site, and I want a different ranking for people I like but don't really know.

It's a colloquialism, not a declaration of eternal love. It means "online contact". Just pretend that's what it says if it bothers you than much.

You're left to handle real friends in your life with more traditional means.

 

[Pbartender]

And is this..."Joe-ghurt" any good? It doesn't quite look right.

It's delicious... Almost as good as the "Matt-atouille".

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

"You labeled me
I'll label you
So i dub thee UNFORGIVEN" - Metallica

Yeah, when I opened a facebook account I started with just people I knew and some of them I actually had to ignore because I couldn't stand the constant updates on what they were doing/thinking. Soon enough I was getting friend requests from relatives of friends and friends of friends, not to mention facebook trying to get me to friend people from high school and college that were utter strangers to me and I thought, "I don't want to know the details of the lives of some of my "friends" - I don't need to burden myself with sorting through the lives of strangers as well. I can't even keep up with my own dull, pathetic life..."

I've "friended" one or two people on webforums but only because THEY asked... and then I've never heard from them again and forgotten all about them.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

That's a very good point. It's hard to make categories that would work without seeming to insult the people who think they are being labeled as less valuable. Purely internet friends are an entirely different species than actual friends. Not saying that El Mahdi is a cyborg or something. 'Though, that would be cool.

Call them "Friendus virtualis." Alternatively use an acronym for what they really are: TOVS - Target Of Virtual Stalking

 

[jonesy]

Call them "Friendus virtualis." Alternatively use an acronym for what they really are: TOVS - Target Of Virtual Stalking

"No officer, I'm not stalking him. He's my friend."
"He says he's never seen you before."
"Well I'd never seen him either. What?"

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

eQuaintences?