The difference between strangers and friends…

by biscuitinabasket on July 3, 2009

Another fantastic post from Seth Godin which I wanted to share with you guys [original post here]; I think the philosophy of friendship is very simple, and it is complicated by our wants and perceptions.

Strangers are justifiably suspicious.

Friends give you the benefit of the doubt.

“Friend” is more broadly defined as someone you have a beer with or meet up with to go on a hike. A friend is someone who has interacted with you, or who knows your parents or reads your blog—someone with history. If you’ve made a promise to someone and then kept it, you’re a friend. If you’ve changed someone for the better, you’re a friend as well.

We market to friends very differently than we market to strangers. We do business differently as well.

Thanks to social networks and the amplification of stories online, we have far more friends per person than at any other time in human history. Nurturing your friends—protecting them and watching out for them—is an obligation, and it builds an asset at the same time.

(I want to distinguish friends from ‘friendlies’, the people you have a digital link to, but no real connection. Friendlies are basically strangers with a thumbnail of their face on your screen. They’re not friends. And, while we’re at it, the moment you treat a friend like a stranger (form mail, for example) they’re not a friend any more, are they?)

Tagged as: Arts, Beer, Blog, blogging, Business, Education, family, Friendship, Google, google reader, history, Home, Human, Kids and Teens, London, Me, On the Web, Online Communities, People, Psychology, Recreation, Relationships, Searching, seth godin, Social network, Social Sciences, Society and Culture, Thumbnail, UK, United Kingdom, United States, Weblogs, weekend, women, Work

{ 4 comments }

Candace July 3, 2009 at 12:15 pm: Very interesting. Sometimes I find it very hard to define friends. I think that’s why I have a difficult time following people who have alot of blog followers already. Most of the blogs that I read, have become people that I would consider friends. I’ve added them to Twitter, Facebook, or MSN. And while it is nice to have alot of followers, I am happy with having a small number of close people that I can relate to. That I can call friends. How do you do that with 200+ followers? I’ve also learned to weed out the bad ‘friends’ in my life, and stick with the true ones. That means I may have less, but I know that they are real friends.
Ms. Salti July 3, 2009 at 8:32 pm: Found you over on Candace’s blog. I like this post a lot. I’ve recently been contemplating my friends from the blogosphere, and while I have many “friendlies” that I communicate with, I have made a handful of new friends that I truly cherish. You said it all very well!
AD July 4, 2009 at 7:23 am: i m sorta getting the hint
outcastrebelchic July 4, 2009 at 4:08 pm: I make friends very reluctantly, despite the name it takes me a long time before i can reach out to people and get to know them, friends are people i kinda know but not in depth, the people whom i know and am very close too are best friends but i don’t like the ‘best’ bit although they are awesome i don’t think that best is adequate so if i could i would call them the awesomest people who i hang out with. Or something like that.