Forgive me for ranting, but Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal piece, “Beyond Facebook: the benefits of Deeper Friendships” really made me crabby.
The author assumes that friendships are binary: either deep or casual. She also assumes that Facebook friends are exclusively casual and that "deeper" friendships can only be maintained by face-to-face or phone communication.
“Constantly connected via Facebook and Twitter, you may feel like you have a lot of friends. But will they be your go-to friends during crisis?”
Don't most of us have both close and casual friends on Facebook? Moreover, life at VoiceQuilt has convinced me that emotional support can come from all quarters. A cheering squad of deep friends, casual friends and somewhere-in-between-friends is incredibly powerful. Just listen here.
Here is an excerpt from an email we received earlier this week from a gift giver named Emily.
Here is an excerpt from an email we received earlier this week from a gift giver named Emily.
- "My husband is going through a rough time at work so I had his friends call in and give him a "Pep Talk" which I put into his car this morning to surprise him on the way to work.”
VoiceQuilt's privacy policy doesn't allow us to listen to VoiceQuilt messages without the gift giver's permission. However, my intuition says that at least one caller shared inspirational words. I'll bet that at least one caller would have been deemed a "casual friend" by our Wall Street Journal writer. Maybe he shared a funny work memory, one that reminded Emily's husband that better times will come soon...
When it comes to emotional support, these old adages come to mind:
“The more, the merrier."
"Many hands make light work"
"Any port in a storm"
When it comes to emotional support, these old adages come to mind:
“The more, the merrier."
"Many hands make light work"
"Any port in a storm"
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