With the arrival of internet,  social media and telephones  every person is inundated  with friends. But the need of a real friend is still a   Achilles heel in the concentric circles of  friends around us.  Inspite  of having hundreds of  friends we  are  unable to fathom  whom we  are  close to and whom we  must bank  upon. Many end up  with  break ups or  get tired of continuing due to lack of reciprocation. Many times  we keep pondering if only I  knew  who was  my  real friend ? Acquaintances, light friendship and deep friendship are the  three categories in which each one of us can   categorise our friends. Another  way  to categorise them,  especially in view of the social media interactions would be – friends whom we physically meet (or FTF friends) and second would be virtual friends where we are generally in touch  by telephone or social media platforms like chats etc. The  biggest dilemma a person faces in  friendship is that  he or  she  himself is not able to  measure their own feelings towards a friend.  Many studies have revealed that depth of  friendship is a  very subjective term and cannot be converted into a objective measuring scale. But this tool called friend-o-meter can do it . On  friend-o-meter to you can measure  all your depth of friendship to  a great degree of  accuracy. 

Friendometer– Friendometer is  a  tool to measure  your  feeling  towards  a friend. If you  are  observant  you can measure the reading of your  friend too towards you. Friendometer  reading  is based on three  parameters- interation time,interaction  urge, interaction frequency.

1. Interaction  time- how much time you spend on interaction with a friend.. measure it as follows:-

   1. If  you interact with a friend  via face to face meetings(FTFM) infinitely lets say 2 hrs or  more in a day and yet not  feel bored of each other –  give  80 points

   2. If  you interact only  telephonically(but  infinitely lets say 2 hrs or  more in a day) and yet not  feet bored of talking –  give 70 marks

   3. If you have FTFM or talk 30 min to 60 min a day without getting  bored with  a friend- 60  marks

   4. If you  can have FTFM or telephonically talk 10 min to 30  to  a friend without getting  bored  – 50 points

   5. If interact on  short  call of 05 or  even upto 10 min is fine with both of you- 40 points

   6. Interactions Only via messages – 30

• Interaction Urge

  • Urge  to  talk daily- add 5 points

  • Urges  to  meet physically or  on a  video  call daily – add 10 points

  • Urge to meet or  talk 2 or 3  times a  day- add 5 points

  • If the content of your  call is work  related-  deduct 5 points

• Interaction  frequency

  • If  the  frequency of talk or meeting is not daily but 2 to 3 time a week- deduct 5 points

  • If  the  frequency of  talk or meeting is once or twice   a month only – deduct 10 points

  • If the frequency is once in 3 months or more- deduct 20 points

How  to read Friendometer tool

1. Make  a list  of friends you  have and interact  with frequently.

2. Write the mode of interaction you maintain- physical, calls or messaging.

3. Measure the  interactions and urges of interaction in the last  two months . Data of minimum two months should  be used.

4. Analyse the results by calculating total score    by adding and subtracting  points. Analyse  the total  score  as  follows:-

   1. 80 or more points- deep friendship

   2. 60-75                      – good friends

   3. 40 to 55                  – light friends

   4. Less  than 35          – Just Acquaintances; look for methods to enhance friendship.