Today's Question

I feel as though I should say this "next question comes from longtime listener, first time caller," but it doesn't quite fit, though it is loosely applicable (longtime answerer, first time asker seems closer to the truth).  Anyhow, Sister Lisa posed a question for the blog yesterday, and I like it, so I'll pose it to all of you.  Moreover, the question is quite appropriate for this forum as it pertains, a great deal, to this forum.  It is worth note, that my facebook 'friend' list has people in it: A) that I have never physically met, an interesting notion now but certainly moreso 5 years ago; B) that I have not seen or seen very rarely in the past, oh, say 14 to 17 years, wow; and C) people that I see all of the time.  The point, and the question, is this..."how do you define friendship? And how has your notion of friendship changed with [the advent of certain] technolog[ies]?"  What I think Lisa is very directly hinting at, is whether it has become easier to make connections and communicate with people, whether we consider those connections to be friends or colleagues, and whether this has diluted our notion of what constitutes a friend (or 'real' friend, whatever that 'means').  I don't know many people that would take a bullet for me in my 'friend's' list, and that is okay, there ain't anyone that I work with that would, but what does this all mean with respect to friendship.