Friends, let’s get real

This Friendship Day, we find out whether friendship has got a makeover in the virtual world
In the new-age world where friends are made on social networking sites the dynamics of friendship seem to have changed. ‘Request-Accept-Like’ — that’s the formula to make bonds supposed to last a lifetime. So has friendship got a makeover? “Friendship survives on social networking sites now,” rues Yashvardhan Prasad, an MS University student.He speaks for many youngsters when he adds, “We’re comfortable chatting online because it’s faster. When it comes to building relationships, dealing with emotions; hundreds of friends online are a temporary solution.”
Young entrepreneur Wiedhy Patel remembers birthday calendars she used to make without reminders from microblogging sites, “Social networking has dwarfed the efforts one used to put in relationships. Earlier we had fewer friends but more feelings and now it’s just the opposite.”
Relationship expert and psychiatrist Hansal Bhachech agrees, “The generation of attention and sensation seekers is shifting its preference to social networking than emotional bonds. We are aping the west and now share things with the psychiatrist.”
This Friendship Day, let’s remind ourselves of what it means being with a group of those crazy, make-us-happy-forever souls whom we call friends, who knew our favourite song before reading it online, who knew our pet-peeves and likes. It’s time to look beyond the 700+ friends on social networking sites. It’s time to get real.
nidhin.patel@timesgroup.com