It's common these days to complain that friendships aren't what they used to be. Coffee shops packed with phone fixated people barely sharing a word to exclusive online groups of like-minded individuals with barriers to entry, as well social media friendships made by the click of a button but lacking even the briefest hello, is increasing the anxiety that true friendship is in decline and that technology is to blame.
However, worry about effects of new technology on friendship is as old as the written word. Older, in fact. Well over 2,000 years ago, Socrates was concerned about the effects of letter-writing, favouring face-to-face interaction with friends. And at the beginning of 20th Century, there were concerns that landline telephones would cause untold misery, limiting interactions and fostering unhealthy social behaviour. Today this just makes us chuckle and think “how quaint.” Of course they didn’t undermine friendship, they promoted it. Letters and phone calls between distant friends served as the glue that kept relationships alive.
Researcher Shannon Vallor recently looked into whether friendships on Facebook can be real friendships and concluded - yes, they can. Her argument rests on Aristotle's thoughts that friendships need us to have certain virtues, including reciprocity, empathy, self-knowledge and participating in a shared life.
The mediums and technologies that enable friendship to flourish and sustain may change, but much stays the same. The phonecalls and handwritten letters of a few decades ago have become the text and Insta of today but their function is similar.
GFS Perth has been helping friendships flourish since 1888. Why not join our Facebook page today and write some more history with us.
Till next Monday
