What are [Facebook] Friends For?

"Hey man, guess who added me on facebook?"
"Who?"
"You know that hot girl who sits behind us in Psych?"
"Yeah of course! I haven't seen b***s like that since my subscription to Penthouse expired."
"What? No! We're facebook friends man! Talking? You crack me up sometimes. Pot?"
"Damn straight."

This type of conversation is not altogether that uncommon, but at its core it just seems so strange. Why do people add people as friends on facebook, a socializing website created to connect buddies who attended different universities, who aren't really their friends? I can't honestly say that I haven't done this in my own life, and I think it would be quite a stretch for you, the reader, to claim that you haven't engaged in similar practices in your own use of facebook.

I took a good hard look at my list of facebook friends the other day, and tried to figure out (approximately) what percentage of them are actually people that I talk to more than once a year for a meaningless happy birthday wall post. I thought to myself, how many of these people do I actually consider to be my friends. How many of these people are folks that I would trust? The result was disturbing to say the least. By my estimates I would say less than twenty percent of the people that I currently have as facebook friends are actually real friends at all. As for the other eighty percent, well, they're more like facebook filler, you know, to keep your news feed interesting. New photos at someone's cottage who I don't know! Sweet! Let the comments nobody cares about begin!

So the question remains, why do we do it? Why do we dilute our friends list with meaningless acquaintances, and live in some fantasy world where everyone is a 'great pal' of ours? Maybe, it's a way of making people feel more popular than they are. Didn't have that many friends growing up? No problem. Just add all those guys you met in the line at the bar. Maybe, its so you can stalk their pictures and find out just where they've been hiding . I don't think I'm qualified, nor insightful enough to provide an all-encompassing answer to this question, but its just something to think about.

Facebook is a great application for many reasons, keeping in touch with people you don't often see being one of them. Just don't forget the people who are important to you. What are those people called again? F**k, I almost forgot. Oh yeah! Friends.