Google ‘friendship’, you won’t find a precise definition because friendship, in practicality, varies from person to person. There are various mediums for connecting with people before bonding together. Whatever be the case, the first meeting is always worth remembering. Like finding a source of friendship, continuity process also differs. 

At present, the mediums of the past may sound a tad medieval, but before the internet took over, people used to communicate through letters, or via landlines. However, at present, technological enhancement has made reliable, and efficient. 

Furthermore, social media helps people to stay connected. These mediums are the basis of keeping friends together and ensuring that friendships don’t fade into oblivion due to communication gaps.
 

Communication mediums 

Serina Shrestha is a BA LLAB student in Lovely Professional University in Punjab, India. She says all communications mediums with her friends are online based.  “After graduating from school, friends part ways. But online media like Facebook and Viber makes it possible to stay connected. We text and call each other,” Shrestha stated. 

Likewise, Bivash Bista, BBS 4th year student at Caspian College, Sakar Neupane, Forestry student in Hetauda, and Arose Gautam, BIT 3rd-year student at Islington College also prefer the online medium.

“I’m not good at carrying conversations.  So, I prefer social media because it avoids direct contact. I rarely call anyone either, unless at times of emergency,” stated Neupane. 

Gautam says, “Besides my college friends, who I meet almost every day, I talk with many other friends via phone calls. We also communicate through Facebook.”

Things to do with friends

Though the conversations are limited mostly to online chat-rooms and phone calls, people find time to hang out during weekends, or at times of everyone’s convenience. Shrestha says she like hanging out in cafes. 

On the other hand, Gautam relishes the outdoors. On favorable days, he likes going on outdoor excursions. He says,“After planning out an itinerary online, we decide on a common meeting point. We go out on motorcycle rides to enjoy nature. When bike rides are out of the question, we go for futsal.” 

Likewise, Sandip Bade is intrigued by hiking with his schoolmates. “Thanks to Messenger, we make plans to hike mostly to the destinations like Pilot Baba and Nagarkot to have a quality time.” He added. 

Long-distance online friendships 

Arman Pathak, East-West Medical College, Dhaka, says, “Due to social networking sites, staying connected with friends back home is easy. However, the feeling of physical presence is not as same as virtual interaction. Having long distance friendships can only ensure an online presence in events. Coming across pictures of friends hanging out without me is quite disheartening.”