What is a true friend?

Nowadays we have fakers by the gazillions.

Today we will talk about friends, friendships and relationships. Nowadays the world, especially teens and twenty-somethings, seem to have their faces buried in their cell phones all day long, like screen-stroking monkeys. This is how they communicate with their “friends”… but are they really friends? Let’s look at social media, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.

These days it seems like everyone wants to be friends, have friends and gain “friends”, but is a follower really a friend? A true friend? Do you ever really get to know that person? Usually the answer is no! Let’s talk about what a real friend actually is.

Twitter (and all social media) “friends” are not real, they are acquaintances and few ever go beyond this. In the 7 years I have been on twitter and of all the 20,000+ tweets I have ever written, I had at one time gathered over 10,000 followers. Out of those, I only knew perhaps 20-30 people that became decent acquaintances. Out of this whole time, only garnered 4-5 good friends. Those that we really talk with and even visit and see each other. We communicate as true friends do!

One time last year I decided to just go ahead and follow everyone back that ever followed me. All of a sudden I must have ended up on some follow back list or something. I received every “weird” Twitter account following me; from sex starved lover types to those that post every puppy, kitten or animal picture on planet earth. None of them have anything to do with trading. They are just playing a game; follow me… so I will follow them.

Then, a few days later they delete me as their “friend”!  All they want are followers. Why? I guess they feel good about that. Maybe it makes them look good? I think that an agenda in some manner as there has to be a catch. Maybe they all are selling something or attempting to gather web clicks to their blogs or sales pages? Not sure. Whatever. Twitter is a strange place. All this time on Twitter and I really cannot understand it all that much. I’m really too busy trading to bother to be honest. I used to use Twitter as a real dumping grounds. I posted a ton of my reality. I preach Bible and I teach trading. I gave out tons and tons of free money trades over the years…. I put all my vacations on there. I posted photos of family and was seriously open, honest and quite personally revealing of myself and my true life.

Recently though, I saw that this was not that good of an idea. The problem is that there are criminals out in the world and psychos too. Some are almost down right stalkers! So I used an app to delete my tweets in one fell swoop. Side note: do not forget to revoke access to that app if you use one once it’s done, or you will one day wake up and see all your new tweets deleted too! It happened to me.

In the last year I got a few secret followers that are kinda psychos, who for whatever reason practically stalk every word I say. The reality is that I don’t know the extent of their psycho-ness. So, I had to pull the plug on being too revealing. I don’t need psychos knowing everything about me and my family. Do you? How much do you reveal of yourself to the world on Facebook, Instagram, etc.?

Anyway, I think that some criminals, robbers or possibly even kidnappers scour Twitter, Facebook and other social media. I heard it’s pretty big in Venezuela. If you’re too rich or popular and you go there for any reason they have “informants” waiting for you right at the airport that will “squeal” that you are in country. Then someone comes along and tries to kidnap you at some point. Wish I had the article link for that. Read it once and deleted it. Sorry. Anyway…

Now Facebook. I am not an expert at all! I know there are a bunch of folks advertising and selling stuff on Facebook, but I am talking about friends, not that. Everyone these days has family and friends and I think Facebook is a good way to “stay in touch”, especially when distance separates us so much. This is good in a way, because we control who gets in to see us and who can view our intimate family pictures, posts and thoughts.

I have fewer than 40 Facebook friends but a lot of my family and real friends don’t even use Facebook! I don’t really like Facebook all that much. So amazingly I don’t even bother with it. I hardly post any family photos or updates. But some people in this world are practically addicted to Facebook. They spend a ton of time on there! Not me. I barely bother.

Another issue is that Facebook is free just like Twitter, but there is a cost. The cost is everything you say and do is permanently recorded and the CIA builds a file on you. They know everything about you. Perhaps you have read about that in the news recently. This last year has been mega revealing on Facebook’s flaws and how the CEO has given access to many Government agencies and how they really are indeed spying on you. In fact, they sell your profile and data to advertisers that compile the info and use it to market to you.

Real friends: Real friends are intimate. They know, trust and love each other. I heard it said long ago… to “test” your friends” because there are various “levels” of friendship. I did that and do that. I have tested some friends and found them unworthy and I dropped the friendships. I have had very, very good friends that have stabbed me in the back and showed me an ugly side of humanity. I cut them off forever when that happens. I have tested some friends in certain ways I will not reveal here… and they came through with flying colors! Showing themselves to be true and great friends.

My real and true friends are widely varied. They come from all walks of life. With many, we have little in common in some ways, but we know each other’s heart and I am a lover of true, honest and decent people. People that have integrity, honor etc… People that have qualities I find just about long gone from folks of this age. Think about the Knights of old. They had a code that started with Honor and Integrity and it moved way beyond that. Those people move to the top of my list! In my humble opinion the highest grade friend is someone you share mutual love and would literally die for one another if that need arose.  Do you have a friend that would die for you? Do you have a friend so close you would die for them?

So there you have it. I think online “friends” are not deep or real. You cannot have much of a relationship online! A lot of what folks share on Instagram etc… is just narcissistic.  Look at me, look how pretty I am.  It’s nice to have 500+ folks say how hot you look.  That is incredibly superficial and of very poor, shallow character.

Lastly, a warning. Be very, very careful who you trust. A lot of folks will pretend to be your friend in this life only to attempt to get something from you. This is a very sad thing to even have to say but it’s so true! There are folks out there that screw people over. A man once scammed my grandmother only to get into her pocket. He got $50K off of her, a Cadillac and a diamond ring… and he was gone. Sadly, I had a few friends in life be my friend and attempt to gain off me. I have heard more wrong-doing stories from others than you could ever imagine. It almost makes one want to give up on humanity as a whole. No wonder we have folks out there that love animals to death and hate people. Animals don’t hurt you. So just be careful is all I am saying and move along at normal speeds… never go too fast!

Laddies… think about this. How many men have you or your girlfriends ever come across that pretended to be nice, but later screwed you over? Either literally or figuratively speaking? I know one right now, going through a divorce because the jerk basically lied to her during the entire marriage. Cheated for years on end. A relationship filled with lies. What happened? He sold her a bill of goods. He pretended to be something he was not. Hid the lies and dishonesty as long as he could until it could no longer be hidden. And let me say this thing too… there were warning signs but she, of course, wanting to believe he was good and pure, wanting to believe this could not be true.. denied the warning signs! Be honest with yourself!

I’m done but I have to throw some bible in here. Here you go: “He that wanteth friends must show himself friendly.” If you want friends? Be a friend!

But let us not be suckers or pansies either! Trust…. but verify! Don’t trust too much or too fast without testing. Go very slow in relationships and also stop giving away so much free information about yourself on the internet to people you don’t really know.  That is so not wise if you really think it through.  Why feed the Government and the criminals? Exercise discretion.

Thanks for reading. Go be a (real) friend to someone today.