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After reading "The dark side of friendship on Facebook," (Opinion, Stephen Randall, Dec. 1), I was quite appalled.

What is it we are supposed to call "friendship" then? Seriously, this article took most of a page [and was about] some guy whining that his so-called friends post more about themselves than he ever sees in person. Is he serious?

I have a lot of Facebook "friends," and I even communicate with some of them strictly through Facebook. Now, being in the military has more to do with that than anything else, but that is not the point. What I am saying is, there is a small handful of people whom I would classify as friends. These are the people with whom I can have deep, personal conversations about who I am and the things that bother me. I don’t have to put on my best for them; I can come just how I am, and they can do the same. We can have true conversations and not worry that if we say something to offend the other that they are going to storm off. Even if something offensive is said, that is not the end of the friendship. This is how I classify friendship.

Whatever and whoever this guy is talking about is not friendship. To me, it barely even qualifies as acquaintance. Yet, it is written in a way to suggest that every friendship needs to be like this. No wonder there are so many problems with people! If we have to dress up and put on a show for even our closest friends, who can we be real with?

Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph R. VincentBrussels, Belgium

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