Social media platforms can support but cannot replace true friendship.

We can be technologically connected but still lonely.

We can find meaning through the lens of authentic friendship.

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” This quote is attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who wrote extensively about the notion and importance of true friendship as a determinant of meaningful living.

Aristotle’s view on this matter stands in sharp contrast to what is depicted in the 2010 movie The Social Network about the founding of the internet social networking site Facebook. With the advertising tag line, “You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies,” you have to wonder what the definition of “friends” is in this kind of social networking context. And as you watch the relationships depicted in the film, especially that between founder Mark Zuckerberg and his network of friends, it is obvious that they don’t meet the quality standards espoused by Aristotle!

In the movie, computer whiz Zuckerberg and his best friend Eduardo Saverin, also a principal co-founder of Facebook, become embroiled in enough fights, including a nasty legal battle, to establish that there is not a single soul dwelling in their two bodies. The notion of “friend,” of course, is used rather loosely in the online world of Facebook. What do you think Aristotle would have to say about the meaning of—and path to—friendship that has come to popularize the new millennium? Have we gone too far in our quest for connection with others in a world that has become increasingly disconnected even if, according to American journalist Thomas........

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