The Future of Friendship

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the future of friendship, arguing that there is no reason to believe that the future of friendship will be fundamentally different from how friendship has been in the past. Despite cross-cultural differences, Dunbar’s Number remains constant and people with different friendship styles enjoy roughly the same health and emotional benefits from their friendships. Barring drastic change, it is likely that the future of friendship is not going to be markedly different from the past and the present of friendship. On closer examination, the sorts of things that are commonly viewed as threats to friendship — like social media and echo chambers — turn out to be less ominous. Time constraints, established social norms, and personal and cultural preferences are likely to apply brakes to the speed at which friendship transforms over time.