To ask how many friends you have

[Wastedisposal7]

I only have around 5 would like more.

I have six extremely close friends who are all (except for two who are married to each other) basically separate, none of them really know each other. Like they've maybe met a few times through me but they're not a group of friends.

Then I have my "gang" which is the five other people I trained with when I was starting out in my chosen career. We don't see each other much but we whatsapp a lot.

Then I'm also a member of a hobbyist club which is for people with mental health problems, and which is linked to my career. There's only really one, maybe two people who are actual friends who I hang out with and socialise with outside of the group, but I consider the group as a whole to be like a family.

Then I'm on a group chat with 50 people who do the same career as me (there are probably fewer than 100 people doing this job for a living in the UK, which is basically a niche field of the arts world, and we basically all know each other), some I know better than others, but I'd put them all in the category of mates but mainly texting mates.

I had a day job when I was trying to make it as an artist, and I still work there two Saturdays a month even though I don't financially need to, for mental health support and to avoid loneliness. So there's a group of around 20 people who I see twice a month and I get along very well with everyone, with perhaps 5 people I consider proper mates that I have a real laugh with.

I don't have a partner or any living relatives to my friends are my family.

Prob only 2 really good friends who I don't see often enough but are good friends and the rest just acquaintances. I'm very chatty and talk to everyone and will walk down the road and often see someone I know but not as friends just ppl to have a 5.min chat with

People I see/ speak to fairly regularly, go out for nights out/ dinner with etc? Probably about 7.

And then about another 3-4 more acquaintance types that I see every few months.

I flit between wishing I had more friends, to feeling burnt and socialised out dealing with the ones I do have. I think in an ideal world I’d get rid of the 3-4 acquaintance types and replace them with a couple of other ‘friend, friends’ so hard to meet people now though I find, most people aren’t really open to friendships once they’re in their 30’s.

Not a single one

I have 10 friends over 3 groups and lots of acquaintances.

Good friends I do things with regularly and love muchly - 6 +

Ride or die mates - 3 including my best mate for almost 40 years

add lovely work colleagues who I don't really socialise with but trust and care about and who support me 8 and gym mates 5

so 22 in total

I have 2 real friends.

5 friends, 6 or so 'mates', stacks of acquaintances x

1 best friend that I'm in contact with every day. See about twice a week.
Then a larger group of friends (6) that we are in contact with via WhatsApp. Maybe see them once every 2 months.
Have 2 good friends that live abroad. We speak once a month for at least 1-2 hours on the phone.
Have other people I'm friendly with but don't see them outside of dc.

10 or 11 that I can rely on, of those two are abroad and the rest I see fairly regularly (some every 2-
3 weeks, some every 2-3 months)
Another 5-6 that I'd class as acquaintances, have coffee and a chat but wouldn't rely on.
And another 7 or 8 in a wider social circle that I might text from time to time but would be outer circle.
I'm single so my sanity relies on having friends and I try to keep a decent pool so at difficult times I don't rely too heavily on any one person.

Very good friends who I am in regular contact with and would travel to see (talking flights as I live abroad) - 6

Relatives in the above category - 2

Good friends who I see regularly and would meet for a drink/ lunch - 6

Acquaintances/ work colleagues/ friends I'm not in regular contact with - 20-30

Not including DH and kids in the above, obviously. I feel very lucky to have my friends but also guilty when life gets in the way of my seeing them more.

None
I have autism and cannot deal with the demands a friendship entails

Depends what you refer to as a ‘friend.’ The definition surely encompasses a huge spectrum.

I could say DS and I are meeting up with ‘friends’ on Monday but it’s only another mother and child I’ve talked to at preschool pick-up a handful of times. You might spot us at soft play and assume we’ve been lifelong friends but that’s not the case.

Let me see…

My best friend lives abroad. She’s from uni. We have a pretty much continuous dialogue going on messenger and talk on the phone a couple of times a week although we’ve not met in person for years now.

I have another good friend around 2 hours away from my very first job. We talk a couple of times a month and have been there for each other through some very difficult times. We meet up a couple of times a year.

I have regular IM chats (often quite ranty) with a couple of other long-distance long-standing friends I don’t actually see often.

There are various people I meet up with sometimes locally with DS, all from baby/toddler groups. None of them feel anything like as close as any of the above and I suspect things will probably fizzle out if the children end up at different nurseries/schools.

I’m FB friends with most of my year from school and have a vague idea at least of what most people are doing but am no longer in regular contact with any of them (this is after 20 years).

I don’t feel like my social situation is great but then it’s not awful either.

3 very close friends who I see very regularly, probably a further 10 who I’m close to but don’t see that often (less than 6 times a year), then about another 20 who I would invite to a big party and maybe see once or twice a year. I am a very sociable soul, I like to spend time with people.

I think this is part of my diagnosed ADHD in that I find it hard to make and maintain casual or non- closely matched friendships so when I meet a potential friend either we hit it off enough to become inner circle or things fade off with little in between.

This is an interesting idea, as the two of my (now adult) dc who have ADHD diagnoses, are the two who have lots and lots of different friends. If I'm chatting to one of them and they mention going to watch a film / have a curry / going for a drink / any socialising they are going to or have been to, I couldn't predict who they were going with, as they both have so many friends I have no chance of guessing. My other dc (without ADHD) - MUCH more predictable in that they have always had 'fixed' friends in much smaller numbers.

I have eight friends who would help me bury a body. Not joking or exaggerating. Half of these have been my close friends for over forty years.

I don’t have many friends outside of these really, as I don’t put much value on casual friendships and struggle to fit my close friends into my busy life, so there’s not much room for more friends.

I don’t have any friends I can call at 2am but I have orchestrated this on purpose. I have tons of people I absolutely adore and who like me back so I’m content. Just no ‘bestie’.

Interesting question, I have more than I thought I had but we are all busy; at least 4 I could call at any time if needed.

2 best friends.
A couple of other friends who I really like annd meet less regularly and colleagues id call friends too.
i could fill a room for a party with friends/ acquaintances.

None, and I like that way. I'm very much a loner.

Zero

~<>~{{| ZERO |}}~<>~

None and happy as Larry, no drama.

Not many. I lost some when DH was very sick a few years ago (people are dicks). I also had enough of some friends where the entire relationship was based around only being about them, nothing in return.
One of my oldest/closest friends married someone who brought the worst in her. Not spoken to her in over 10 years and it’s still crap. But her behaviour became ridiculous.
Im a career for DD so I virtually see no one these days, maybe someone once a month for a few hours if I’m lucky. Without work or a hobby/activity it’s almost impossible to meet new people.