Throughout life, people develop a number of different relationships. There are the simple acquaintances, and then there are the friends; there are best friends, and then there are ex-best friends; there are boyfriends, girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, and then there is the Friendzone - which can be a good situation, or a bad situation, depending on the person. Nowadays, since the invention of social media, such as Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, among others, connections with others can be exaggerated, or heightened; in the blink of an eye, you can add someone to your social media account, and expand your friendship online, or someone you thought you knew on Facebook can unfriend you without a word, or block you.
Human interaction doesn't come easily to everyone; Even though someone has friends, they can still feel extremely lonely. At times, it can be very taxing. It can be extremely scary and anxiety-provoking to say, "Hello!" to someone, whether it be on social media through a personal message, an email, or in person. The first "hi" can form a mutual acquaintance, wherein people share similar environments, like college dorms, high school hallways, office space, or other places, such as the same neighborhood. In various social media platforms, the mere acquaintance includes those who add you and watch your posts on their newsfeed, and only occasionally send you an instant message, or like your posts.
Gradually, two acquaintances evolve into a friendship. Normally in a friendship, shooting the breeze about mutual interests, other known individuals, or even each person's hopes and dreams are normal occurrences. It is an unspoken rule of friendship that generally, those involved value traits in the other people, whether it's their fashion sense, sense of humor, or even other extremes like mutual hatred of sports, or other types of people. With the immersion of social media, meaningful conversations can be held online as well as in person. Compliments such as approving of one another's clothing, hairdo, or vehicle are mirrored online by "liking" someone's post, or picture. Online friendships can appear to be more fulfilling than in person relationships due to the intimacy one can feel with another person online.
As with any relationship, a downside with friendships is the possibility of the end. People who used to be close to one another grow apart, either gradually or abruptly. These instances may be caused by disagreements, or simply phasing out of each other's lives. Where social media is concerned, there may have been an online quarrel, or simply failing to keep in touch with someone anymore, leading to the eventual deletion from their account.
On the other hand, friendships can evolve into best friendships, the coup de grace of relationships. In most cases, people keep best friends longer than any other relationship -outside of their family- and are able to share their highs and lows with their best friends. Some have many best friends, others have a select few. On online platforms, best friends can 'like' all of their best friend's posts, pictures, etc. and have long fulfilling conversations via various forms of instant messaging, and can also record their time together through social media. However, like any occasionally best friends can dissolve into ex-best friends through horrible circumstances or simple incidences of growing apart over time. People can either stay in touch as mere friends or acquaintances or simply cease to have a relationship with each other anymore.
Best friends and friends sometimes become girlfriends and boyfriends. Romantic feelings can be felt between (usually) two people, and if they're acted upon, and assuming that nothing goes wrong - i.e. no conflict emerges and at no point is there a breakup - boyfriends and girlfriends can become husbands and wives. At times, instead of becoming a couple, the individuals involved may decide to become friends with benefits, or else either party may decide to simply remain friends, causing the whole relationship to be in the Friend Zone. Of course, there is always the possibility of the relationship falling apart, and social media may exaggerate the problems within the relationship. Online, everything is practically in the public eye; on platforms such as Facebook, the relationship status informs the others connected to you on that website who you are in a relationship with, whether or not it is factually accurate. Posts about various events, such as whom someone is hanging out with may cause strife in several relationships someone has, causing the possibility of terminating the relationship to increase. Therefore, caution should be exercised when posting online, and those one calls friend, best friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc. should be respected and honored, lest the whole relationship fall apart.
