February 2025
By Alex Martinez, Staff Reporter
During the free time I had during winter break led me to fall into a certain type of YouTube videos. Which were videos that fell into the genre called video essays. One video essay that piqued my interest was a video by Richard Reeves called The friendship recession. Which led me to a deep dive on the topic and found out that this was something that impacted everyone in the world.
What Is The Friendship Recession?
The “Friendship Recession” is a term that refers to a decline in the number of close friendships people in modern times have compared to past times.
Does The Friendship Recession apply to high school students?
Though this phenomenon typically refers to adults I believe that high school students are victims of this as well. Though many teens are highly connected through social media, these digital interactions often lack the depth of face-to-face friendships. Additionally, these digital interactions oftentimes are transactional and never further the conversation once the transaction is completed. According to the “Survey Center on American Life” 22% of young men and 29% of young women would ask a close friend for help during times of need. This is a decline in percentage that has been seen over the years.
What is a low-maintenance Friendship?
Many researchers on this topic indicate that a major cause for this phenomenon is due to low maintenance friendships. Many young teens prefer to have low maintenance friendships then high maintenance relationships. Low maintenance is defined as A type of relationship that does not require communication or frequent interactions to remain strong. Though these friendships are not necessarily bad, many people have started to intentionally search for these types of relationships. when oftentimes low maintenance friendships are built over time and is not something that is planned from the start of a friendship. This results in the feeling of not being super close to someone. While the friendship can grow strong the vulnerability and support in the friendship will not due to the lack of presence each party has in the other’s life.
Do romantic relationships impact The Friendship Recession?
Romantic relationships have become teens prioritized relationships. Many teens tend to isolate themselves when they get into romantic relationships. they start devoting their time to their romantic partner that many friendships tend to tarnish. This being the result of social changes one faces during a romantic relationship. Sometimes two partners merge or share a friend group. This adds complexity to the group because if the pair break up many times so do the friend group. On the other hand, if a romantic relationship is well balanced it may not have much of an effect on the friendships one has during this time period.
How can we combat The Friendship Recession?
There are many solutions one can take to combat this recession. One major way to end this phenomenon is to prioritize face to face interactions. Making efforts to talk to friends, peers, and strangers in person can increase the quality of a friendship. Participating in school or community activities can also be a strong counter. Going out to help in these events can help create new friendships, memories, and can also be used as an opportunity to strengthen existing friendships. Lastly, reducing your screen time is a clear and simple way to diminish the recession. Through this you can take time to do self-reflection and be vulnerable with yourself. leading to being able to be more open with your friends strengthening the bond of many relationships increasing the number of close friends one could have.
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