We text. We snap. We respond. We keep the streaks going. But when did we last truly speak?
Not the “LMAOO” response. Not the heart response. Not the “haha bro same” message sent at 2 AM. But a genuine, unfiltered, sincere conversation?
That tiny “Typing…” bubble? It’s the ghost of genuine conversations. Someone begins to respond, then halts. They second-guess, delete, vanish. Perhaps they got sidetracked. Perhaps they doubted uttering something authentic. Perhaps they simply did not care enough to complete. The virtual world has made making friends easier, but also easier to leave behind. Face-to-face, silences get substituted with awkward stares or tacit comprehension. On the internet, they’re just… vacant.
And then of course, there’s the illusion of proximity. The “Close Friends” list on Instagram, the masterfully curated private stories, the green dots alongside usernames that convince us we’re all in close proximity, just a message away. But how many of those “close friends” actually bother to check in when you go dark? How many would even notice if you were on a temporary hiatus from posting? The individuals who receive your raw rants, your frantic voice mails, your 3 AM meltdowns—those are authentic friends. Not the ones you carefully select for a virtual VIP area.
Snap streaks? They’ve made friendships a reflex. A blurry picture of your ceiling. A half-faced selfie. A black screen with an ‘S.’ Send, receive, repeat. It’s crazy how we freak out if a streak dies but don’t do the same when a real friendship is dying. We go out of our way to keep a number next to someone’s name but won’t take the time to say, Hey, how are you really doing?
And then there’s the DM graveyard—scroll up on your messages, and you’ll see it. Conversations that began with “Omg we gotta hang soon! ” and never materialized. Friendships that went from late-night texting until dawn to the sporadic “haha” emoji reaction to a meme. No fight, no blowup, just. nothing.
A slow fade until one day, you realize you don’t talk anymore, and the only time you think of them is when their name randomly pops up on your feed.
Maybe that’s the scariest part—friendships don’t always end. They just pause indefinitely, like a song you never hit play on again. Social media makes us feel like we’re constantly connected, but are we? A “like” isn’t love. A reaction isn’t a conversation. A digital “I’m here for you” isn’t a substitute for showing up where it counts. A text won’t sit next to you when life is heavy. A heart react won’t dry your tears.
And even if a million people told you “I’m always here” in your DMs, it won’t add up if they’re never showing up in life. So perhaps it’s time to hang up the phone. Not for good, not theatrically—but just long enough to remember what friendship actually feels like.The kind that isn’t quantified in streaks or story views. The kind where silence isn’t uncomfortable, where you don’t need to censor yourself, where the key to your friendship isn’t WIFI.
Because at the end of the day, the best friendships aren’t just kept alive by streaks or texts—they thrive in real moments. So keep the memes, send the snaps, but also make time for late-night talks, random meetups, and the kind of laughter that doesn’t need a screen. Because the strongest connections aren’t measured in notifications—they’re felt in the moments that truly matter.
