Internet, the bridge between long-distance friends

Will friendships fade away gradually if two friends are far away from each other?

People tend to make friends with the ones who are close to them. -- Miller, R.S

The internet facilitates communications between friends.

Proximity and friendship

Most people are paying attention to long-distance romantic kinships. How about a long-distance friendship? Especially during the global pandemic, most people are separated from their friends, even overseas. In addition, meeting new friends is even impossible under the thread of spreading the virus. Establishing new friendships can be complicated because people are physically isolated from others. In this blog, we are going to discuss the development of friendship while people are far from each other and examine how proximity impacts the forming and maintaining of friendships.

Physical distance is a determinate of forming relationships. People are most likely to make friends with those near them because of increased familiarity, which potentially raises the interest in developing a close relationship, including friends. Shared experiences elevated when people are physically together. The opportunity to form a new friendship has spiked since time spent together is more than the ones who are far away. Proximity is always the key of early framing of friendships that children are being friends and spend more time with children who are near because there is an obvious connection between face-to-face interaction and physical proximity. Even though social media facilitates online interactions and makes it easier for people to make new friends, people are interacting virtually without proximity which decreases the chance of developing emotionally connected friendships.

Online communication tool ranges vary and allow friends to stay in touch when in-person interaction is not obtainable. It includes text messages, email, phones, etc. Proximity takes place when initiating a friendship because people who are close together are likely to become friends. Shared feelings and experience is an important component in developing and maintaining a relationship. Friends are “forcibly” separated during the global pandemic, and the time they shared is significantly decreased. Physical contact is always the part people miss the most when they are apart from their friends. The internet plays the key role in retaining the relationship that it keeps the connectedness between people and decelerates the vanishing of a friendship. It virtually encourages mental closeness between two good friends although proximity is disadvantageous in this situation.

In short, physical closeness is the most important component of a friendship. Not only matters for the potential of forming a relationship but also determine the destiny of an already-formed friendship. Even though the internet acts effectively in introducing new people to our life, it is a temporal method in maintaining a relationship. Proximity is an obstacle when people meet each other online. Social media have to use wisely to keep the mental closeness with our friends to last the friendship.

Resources

Afshordi, N, Liberman, Z. (2020). Keeping friends in mind: Development of friendship concepts in early childhood. Soc Dev. 2021; 30: 331– 342. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1111/sode.12493

Miller, R.S. (2019). Intimate Relationships (8th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill

Octavia, J. R., van den Hoven, E., & De Mondt, H. (2007). Overcoming the Distance between Friends. https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/hci2007.66