Today, friendships are built on self-interest
Experts state that while there are young individuals across the world today who are pushed into loneliness or isolate themselves from their surroundings, there are also those who consciously choose to live in solitude or together with their communities. They emphasize that it would be more appropriate to focus on the importance of young people establishing deep and holistic social relationships.
Sociologist Dr. Berat Dağ explained that over the past fifty years, societies have experienced a wide variety of friendship types, both in terms of definition and practice. He stated, “The extremely individualistic structure and interaction patterns that have emerged today have become a serious risk for societies. Indeed, it is quite striking that in this new period, friendship relationships have begun to form around the notion of self-interest.”
Research Assistant Dr. Berat Dağ from the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Üsküdar University evaluated contemporary friendship relations.
On one hand, the tradition of companionship continues
Dr. Berat Dağ stated that according to historical and geographical differences, the friendship relationships constructed by societies exhibit both persistent and changing qualities. He said, “In this context, it can be argued that the increasing tendency of social relations to be based on money, status, and political power has influenced the concept of friendship. Nevertheless, it is still possible to encounter examples of friendship today based on time-tested solidaristic relationships specific to Eastern societies. Therefore, it can be asserted that while societies continue the tradition of companionship in their current friendships, they are also experiencing transformations shaped by interest-based relationships.”
Changes in technology have altered friendships
Explaining that digitalization and social media interact mutually with friendship relations, Dr. Dağ continued: “In this framework, the transformation of friendship relations can be seen as one of the factors determining the nature of technology. However, changes in technology simultaneously play an effective role in altering friendship dynamics. In this sense, as long as friendships are constructed on the basis of individualism, technology will also take shape around this construction. Similarly, it is quite likely that individuals interacting with technology focused on individualism will organize their friendships according to that influence. On the other hand, it is always possible to ground this mutual interaction in egalitarian, libertarian, and solidaristic values from the perspectives of both digitalization and social relationships.”
Friendships today have become superficial
Commenting on whether there is a difference between how Generation Z forms friendships and the friendship understandings of Generation X or the Baby Boomer generation, Dr. Berat Dağ stated: “In fact, the concept of generation contains rather ambiguous meanings. It is very difficult to define a generation clearly based on the economic, political, and mental differences of individuals, communities, and societies. Therefore, it would be more meaningful to concretize the similarities and differences in friendship relations by taking into account the continuities and changes exhibited by societies within their geographical and historical contexts. As a result of such concretization, it becomes clear that the friendships of the past and present form a complex social structure that is interlinked. In other words, there is an observable tendency that today’s friendships are becoming increasingly baseless and superficial. However, it is still possible to recognize that deep and holistic friendship forms continue to exist within societies.”
How has the individual changed over the past fifty years?
Dr. Berat Dağ noted that friendships have always included both long-term and short-term examples across time and space. He said, “Especially over the last fifty years, it is evident that individuals, society, and the state have been interacting on a slippery, variable, virtual, and fragmented plane. At this point, it should be emphasized that personal emotions, thoughts, and forms of action are constructed within a context of excessive subjectification and objectification, along with economic, political, and ideological institutions. Recently, a mass of people has emerged who pursue ever-changing and diverse pleasures to gain a sense of existence yet cannot perceive the society in which they live. In times and places where everyone transforms one another solely by seeking their own interests, it becomes extremely difficult to produce authentic and balanced structures and interactions.”
There are also those who choose solitude consciously
Dr. Berat Dağ emphasized that today, just as there are young individuals across the globe who are driven into loneliness or isolate themselves, there are also those who consciously choose to live in solitude or in harmony with their surroundings. He stated: “Therefore, within this diversity, it would be more appropriate to emphasize the importance of young people forming deep and holistic social relationships. If action is taken in line with this emphasis, the preference of young people to either live in solitude or together with others will not constitute a fundamental difference. What is truly decisive is the choices that young people will make with the aim of becoming social beings. This approach could prevent a future dominated by a global crowd of individuals completely disconnected from one another.”
Many types of friendships have emerged in the last fifty years
Dr. Berat Dağ concluded his statements by emphasizing the variety of friendship forms that societies have exhibited in both definition and practice over the last fifty years. He said:
“In this context, even today, it is possible to find strong examples of friendships that gain value based on trust and labor across all age groups, genders, professions, and social classes. On the other hand, the extremely individualistic structures and interaction patterns that have emerged during the same period have become a serious risk for societies. Indeed, it is quite noteworthy that in this new process, friendships have begun to take shape within the framework of self-interest. For this reason, it is of great importance for every society to discuss the possibilities of a sociality that preserves individuality, in line with its own unique characteristics.”
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)