In today’s world of technology driven relationships knowing what your zone is as friend can be kinda tricky. Tricky and even funny at times. Like okay can I DM her or should I just stick to comments? Hmmm… It’s not always easy to know. Here are a few of the friendship zones I’ve noticed recently and how to know which zone you’re in – from both sides of a friendship.
Online
You chat online. with things like Facebook comments or messenger, Instagram and Twitter direct messages.
Yet that’s where it ends. You haven’t really connected on a personal level, you don’t really know them beyond their screen name. You don’t have each other’s ‘real’ phone numbers and once your logged off so is your friendship.
Disclaimer: all online friendship do not end there. I have some online friends I count amongst my closest circle but finding them isn’t easy.
Text Me
Now this one can have a few levels. There’s the group text and one-on-one text.
Group Texts tend to happen based on mutual friends, a community involvement or information sharing. PTA, MOPS Groups, Work Chats, etc. The thing is most times if your in the Group Text Zone you never speak to any of the other members outside of the group. You’re just not there yet.
Confession: I’m guilty or being a bit upset when someone stepped outside their zone. This one time I had someone text me one-on-one and honestly we just weren’t there yet. It shocked me a bit and I was at a lost for how to reply. *That was actually the inspiration for this post! LOL 😉
One-on-one Texts mean you have developed a personal.connection strong enough to not only five the person you ‘real phone number’ but you share interest that are common enough to sustain a 2 person text flow.
Call Me Maybe
Whoa!! This has become one of the rarest zones lately. It seems actually dialing a number and speaking to a person has become that ultimate and most sought after friendship zone. Perhaps because it is a nearly lost past time. Either way, getting to a phone call level means you are will to not only listen but share with a person. Your friendship has made it past the limits of your tech.
In Real Life
Now once you get to the phone call zone it almost always leads to a face to face IRL (in real life) meet up *if distance allows.
For me this is a zone I’m still learning to navigate. I will confess I’m more at ease in the tech safe zones because I don’t feel as vulnerable to possible hurt or betrayal of friendship. That said, when I do find someone who gets to the In Real Life Zone I value it above all else. Those are the friendships you work to keep and grow – they’re priceless.
Girls’ Trip
I haven’t gotten here yet. In nearly 40 years I’ve never taken or even been invited on a friend-cation and ya know what? I’m okay with it. For now. I’m honestly not sure if it’s because I’m scared or just haven’t gotten to this zone yet.
This is a zone I would love to reach. A friend or friends you can not only talks to, share with and connect but actually spend extended periods of time and personal space with.
I would label this as the ULTIMATE friendship zone and my advice would be use caution because you don’t want to ruin a friendship by trying this zone out before you or your friend are ready.
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7 thoughts on “Friendship Zones”
Love all these ways to connect as friends! Most of the time I text with friends and only occasionally have phone calls because our schedules are all so different.
Thanks Ada! Texting can be a life saver when you are on different schedules. Glad you still find a way to stay connected to friends.
We should know our limitations. Know the barrier between you and the other line. Don’t take conversation too deep. We should learn how to evaluate friendship.
You’re right Kelly. Unfortunately it can be hard to judge with so much of today’s communication being tech based but being aware of the other person is the first step.
This is really interesting and specific to our generation. People usually start up slow with texts and work their way up to phone calls.
I agree Sylvester – you should definitely start small… it’s a progression.
I would love to have a girls weekend! We all need to unplug and just look at the beauty of this world and friends are one of those things! This is a great reminder to do something in person and not just online!
Me Too – I’m so over due 😀