Facebook has done an amazing thing – they now own the word “friend”! The problem is that they have devalued the word while adding value to their brand. Let’s take back the word “friend” and fill it with value again!
How many of you use “air quotes” when you say so-and-so is your Facebook “friend”? That’s exactly my point. The word now, more often than not, just means that you exchanged a keystroke with someone.
To be clear — I am not saying that connecting through Facebook is a bad thing; I’m saying that few of us actually take the time to connect in the ways that a real friend would. We are missing the chance to use social media as a tool that facilitates real relationships and instead using “friends” as points in a popularity contest.