On Friendship Day, DP = dilemma picture!

Until a few years ago, if you were celebrating Friendship Day, any confusion or dilemma you had would probably have been over the colour of friendship band you wanted to give a friend or the choice of a gift if you were being generous. But friendship in the time of social media raises some new problems. Many youngsters are facing a unique dilemma this

Friendship Day – the DP dilemma

. In times like these, when uploading a DP with a friend on Facebook or WhatsApp is the best way to show your love and affection for them, those with large friends’ circles are left wondering, ‘Kis ko... kis ko khush karoon?’

Between a rock and a hard place
Youngsters say that while the idea of putting up a Facebook or Whatsapp DP with your ‘best friend’ sounds sweet enough on paper, it becomes impractical because most of them have multiple ‘close friends’ instead of just one best friend. Rashika, an engineering student from Malviya Nagar, says, "Who has a best friend these days anyway? I have several groups of friends. I’m very social and have a large circle. Many of those friends are real close. Ek ke saath picture lagao toh doosron ko bura lag jaata hai. It’s such a problem."

Aniket, a class XII student from Gurgaon, says, "I have two very close friends – one of them from school and the other my neighbour who has been a friend for over 10 years. Both consider themselves my ‘best friend’s. Both are expecting that I will make some grand gesture on Facebook by putting up my picture with them on Friendship Day. Main toh soch raha hoon account hi delete kar doon teen-chaar din ke liye. Tension hi khatm."

From group photos to strategic D.P. placements
But youngsters have surely found a way around it. From group photos to make sure everyone is happy to having photos with different friends as profile and cover, diplomacy has found a place in Friendship Day celebrations. Raavi Sharma, a class XI student from Pitampura, tells us, "If you have a large group and you don’t want to offend anyone, simply put the picture of the entire group as your Facebook or WhatsApp DP. That just keeps everyone happy. I’ll be doing the same because I have a group of five friends from school who I am very close to. I won’t want any of them feeling bad. Poore group mein jealousy ho jaati hai aise."

Ritika, an 18-year-old Dwarka resident, says, "I have two best friends so as to say and the only way to placate both of them on Friendship Day is to put up a picture with one as my Facebook DP and a picture with the other one as the cover photo. Now I hope none of them has a problem with the hierarchy of things and considers one superior to other. I’m losing my mind over this enough already."

Old school celebrations to the rescue
Many have resorted to going old-school in their bid to avoid putting up any picture on social media on Friendship Day. Visharad, a management student from Noida, says, "I have just moved from Meerut to Noida so this is more of an ‘agni pariksha’ for me. Putting up a picture with new college friends will offend the school friends and putting up one with the school buddies might offend some old childhood friends. With a great circle comes great responsibility. The solution to this is by celebrating this day in a cheesy manner and buying your friends the clichéd friendship bands. They will laugh it off and it does work."

Aslam, a 19-year-old from RK Puram, says, "The DP thing is so confusing that I have resorted to go old school – buy presents for friends. I mean ab kuch toh special karna hi hai. Photos toh sab ke saath daal nahi sakte toh phir chote gifts hi sahi. I’m giving my friends things like caps and artificial jewellery. Who would have thought avoiding putting up a picture on social media would cost me several hundred bucks?"

My dog is my best friend!
Others have found rather innovative ways to ward off any jealous friends and decided to utilize some unorthodox friends for social media. Jiten Singh, a class XII student from Indirapuram, says, "I’ll be putting up a picture with my dog Bosco on both Facebook and WhatsApp, with the caption ‘Best friends for life’. That is the only way nobody will have a problem with what I post."

Akhil Das, a Vasant Vihar resident, says, "My nephew is five months old and I’ll be shamelessly putting up a picture with him in order to avoid any drama of friends getting offended. It is the safest way to avoid anyone getting offended or jealous."