S/O friendship, definition

For me it varies. We have groups of people we go out with here and there. I call them friends. But I have just a few close friends. The kind that if I need them anytime anywhere they are my true friends.
I think the word friend has become vague with FB. I don't like calling people friends, just because they see stuff I post.
My DH and o talked about this recently. If times are bad, who is there? And who will stay through the long haul?
My friends that we go out with, I don't confide in them. Just my three closest bestirs!

I consider most people acquaintances if I am friendly with them.

A friend, to me, is someone who I would feel comfortable to call at three a.m. in need of help. And someone who I wouldn't mind answering the phone for at 3 a.m.

To me, friends come few and far between.

I'm also an introvert-- and I also would say I have very few actual friends.  I'd rather have only a few VERY close friends than a huge number of casual acquaintances; that's just how I am.

At least by my definition, I have very few friends, anyway-- most of the people I interact with are more 'close acquaintances' if that makes any sense, lol.  I know people through the various ways I interact with them-- people I work with, people I know through my scrapbooking hobby, etc.  But I define *friend* (a close personal friend, specifically) as someone who I could call if I had a personal issue or tragedy and needed their help and/or support-- for any situation.  And there are only 2-4 people who fit that definition-- my boyfriend being one of them.

When I was seeing my counselor, she described it kind of like this, with a diagram of concentric rings:  circle of privacy  Personally, I would put my definition of *friend* only in the spouse / close friend categories; I wouldn't call anyone outside of that realm a friend if I was describing them.  To me the people outside those two areas are close acquaintances, with relationships only because of certain circumstances.  (but that's just my definition, lol)

I like this definition, its closest to how I would describe it. I have only a handful of close friends that I could call for anything at any time and for whom I would do pretty much anything they asked of me. I have other more casual friends that I do things with from time to time, and I always enjoy spending time with them when I do. Then there are all of the people I'm friendly with but that I don't really know all that well, I'd call them acquaintances.

I definitely think that Facebook has changed how many people think of friendship. I think calling a hundred plus people you barely know and never hang out with in real life "friends" really waters down the definition of the word.

ah - what AussieMeg calls an acquaintance I call a casual friend. If I'm willing to stop & chat with you over coffee, we're friends. The degree of closeness of the friendship is determined by how much effort I put into spending time with you and/or how much I trust you/will be open with you. The more superficial I keep the conversation, the more casual the friend.

An acquaintance is someone whose name I know, but I never say more than basically, 'Hello' unless I have pretty much no choice. I mean, I can call some of the women who work at my local grocery store by name. I won't be mute as they're packing my groceries. But my efforts will be minimal & I'll do all I can to keep it short. 

Yeah that ^^

Me too,   DH is my closest and dearest friend. According to him, I just don't like other people. (he's partially correct) Therefore, I keep almost everyone at arms length. I have a lot of acquaintances, and honestly, I'm fine with that. Friendship is reserved for a very very few in my life...

ITA A friend is someone who calls me every week just to say hi and check in. If we don't talk on the phone, we're just activity partners.