110. changed definition of friendship

When Facebook was launched in 2005, it generated a lot of excitement. It had been accessible at Harvard the previous year. As it expanded to other educational institutions, many colleges experienced a surge in new students, all eager to create a Facebook account.

When Facebook became accessible to the general public, anyone with an account could connect with others, and any post made was visible to everyone. This gave users a sense of importance and made them feel heard.

Connecting with someone involved accepting a friend request, which created a new form of friendship. You could be friends with people you didn't know before. Everyone was eager to try out this new tool.

There was a limit, however: you could only have 5,000 friends. People accepted every request and shared updates on everything with them. They used to compete over how many birthday wishes they received, viewing it as a way to validate their popularity. 

Reflecting on it, it's astonishing how a company managed to convince individuals to share their personal lives openly, including details they'd usually keep private, attracting billions of viewers and making this content the main way to advertise. 

With Facebook Marketplace, people realized the company's true goal. Now, many resent having to post all that nonsense for years. 

Now, after 20 years, the enthusiasm has faded. Facebook has been replaced by Instagram.

Thus, the idea of digital friendship was introduced. However, over time, the hope of replacing physical friendships with digital ones has unraveled. 

People have come to realize that friendships should be genuine. You build trust through face-to-face interactions. 

When issues arise, you're eager to resolve them quickly because maintaining the friendship is important to you. You communicate by calling each other when problems occur. 

Additionally, you invite each other to parties and send back invitations for dinners and birthdays. Meeting friends for a chat over coffee or being invited to events like birthdays are important. 

It's not possible to stay connected with 5000 friends. A stranger with an account on a digital platform cannot and will never truly be a friend.

Only genuine people, authentic experiences, and true connections matter. 

It’s good that people have realized this after 20 years.