These days, the people you know on social media are all too often confused as “friends.” Hint…your real friends have your phone number, talk to you regularly, and hang out with you on occasion. However, even those people you have regular personal contact with might need to be put through a filter to determine if they’re for real or not. Dr. Miriam Kirmayer has a seven-point test that can help you decide definitively if someone is a good friend or not.
- They take more than they give back
- They criticize you by using “brutal honesty”
- They don’t respond well when you hit them with “negative feedback”
- They’re routinely not the one that initiates communication
- They’re not fans of taking “no” for an answer when it comes to your personal boundaries
- They take joy in gossip that “tears other people down”
- They show little interest in your personal growth
Source: Business Insider