How hard is it to find a real friend on social media?

15toGO
15toGO
Published in
4 min readApr 23, 2018

Finding real friends, in general, is a really hard task. Some people are more prone to attract others around them and never have to wonder how they can make new friendships even if they move to a new city. They are just having an outgoing and fun personality.

Others are more introverted and have trouble finding new friends even in the town they have grown up in, so they spend more time alone.

As social media takes over the world we tend to communicate less in person and more on different social platforms. According to a study in Pew Research Center* 76% of all teens use social media. The level of social integration decreases* since 1900. People are less active in their community, neighborhood, places of worship or national political matters. Now people are more individualistic and having less social ties, it is easier to stay home and be online.

Here are some statistics on which social platforms are preferred by which age groups from the Pew Research Center*:

According to Robin Dunbar*, evolutionary anthropologist, people are used to be around a community of an estimate of 150 people. This is the magic number that comes to our subconscious to keep ties with and be satisfied with. We do not want to underestimate you but we are sure that most of us do not have an active community (people they keep in touch with on a regular basis live) of 150 people in their lives. So we naturally seek this elsewhere.

In order for a friendship to occur, it must be face to face. Spending time together, having mutual respect for each other and being around that person are few of the steps to make new friends.

You like talking to them, you also share common interests and topics that you are passionate about. When you spend time with each other you can say that this was an awesome experience, because good vibes bounce off of you and they get amplified. Unexpected events test people’s reactions and give signs whether that person is a real friend of yours or not. If he got your back in hard situations and care about your well-being means that you have a real friend by your side.

One of the best ways to make a new friendship is to travel with that person. This a very intense time of sharing energy and experiences. You will spend a lot of your time together and will get the opportunity to get to know him very well. During a vacation time, the spirits are very uplifted because you can finally let loose and stronger bonds happen with stronger situations. Remember the action movies, how at the end the main male character ends up with the main female character after surviving some hard situations, well no wonder.

Traveling in a group gives you many opportunities such as meeting people with common interests, moreover you don’t have to worry about the planning and who to go with as it is an already organized trip. You will bond with the others and create shared experiences which can eventually lead to lifetime friendships.

I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT THERE AIN’T NO SURER WAY TO FIND OUT WHETHER YOU LIKE PEOPLE OR HATE THEM THAN TO TRAVEL WITH THEM.

Mark Twain

Going on a vacation with friends or joining a trip with people that you don’t know is always fun as you build strong relationships and Travelships and it’s one of the best experiences you can have. You can travel with friends and meet like-minded people on already organized trips where the more people come, the less you pay.

The more the merrier … and cheaper >>>> Read More on 15togo.com.

References:

1. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/chapter-4-social-media-and-friendships/

2. https://getthefriendsyouwant.com/5-reasons-why-its-hard-to-make-friends-these-days/

3. http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number

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