Blogging About Communication

How many real friends do you have? Although sadly some eight percent of Americans report having no close friends, more than fifty percent report having between one and four good friends, and over thirty-eight percent report having five or more close friends.

Characteristics of Close Friendships

Close friendships share these eight characteristics: (1) The friends enjoy one another’s company; (2) They accept one another as they are; (3) They trust one another to act in the other’s best interest; (4) They respect one another to use good judgment in making choices affecting the other; (5) They are willing to assist and support each other; (6) They are comfortable sharing their experiences and feelings with each other; (7) They understand each other; and (8) They feel free to be themselves.

BFFs Have Unbreakable Bonds

What makes a BFF? To be considered BFFs, each friend’s behavior needs to be consistent, responsive, and predictable. Each friend also needs to prove themselves to be available and reliable.

Give and Take

When friendships are genuine, there is a natural give and take of support. Voluntary and reciprocal, friendships are not performed out of a sense of duty, but as a result of our integration in and connection with one another’s lives.

How Do Your Friendships Measure Up?

If your “friendships” are shallower than you would like them to be, ask yourself if you are confusing social connection with real friendship. The joys of genuine friendship cannot be replaced by electronic stimuli or bots. Building true friendship requires time, effort, and self-reflection. Not dependent on likes and empty affirmations, real friendships need nurturing to build bonds that last. How do we do this?

Your Action Plan

Compile a list of what you consider to be “best-practices” for building lasting friendships. Seek to confirm if you are proactive when it comes to friendship. When proactive, friends do the following: They create opportunities to spend time together. They focus on the other person. They demonstrate a willingness to self-disclose, confiding their private thoughts and feelings. They offer one another support, particularly when the other person feels psychologically vulnerable. Simply put: real friends have each other’s back.