Most people jump to conclusions way too fast regarding the differences between having fewer friends and more friends.
I’m not here to be contrarian, but I rather want to talk about the differences between those two to help you better understand this topic and the nuances involved.
It is hard to be objective on this topic since it is a very personal decision and it can be affected by our personalities, but I want to let you know that I have between in both situations, and I will do my best to be as objective as I can.
Before getting to the topic, I want to say that I’m talking about real friends, not acquaintances, and also not circumstantial friends(coworkers, colleagues, and so on).
Is it better to have fewer friends or more friends?
It is better to have more friends and between those friends to have a few close friends since it is almost impossible to have a lot of close friends. Check this article to see the difference between close and casual friends.
From my experience and the people around me, we usually lose friends due to circumstances, moving cities, less time, focusing on careers, relationships, kids, etc. So if you only have one or two friends, losing them due to some circumstances that are not in your control can be quite tough.
Having more friends to rely on can help in those situations, even if they are not as close as the ones you don’t have anymore because making friends as we get older is harder than keeping the ones we have.
So saying that fewer friends are better than more friends without considering this might be naive.
Yes, you might never lose friends, but in reality, life is not as we want it to be all the time, and this comes from a very optimistic person, check my story here.
Also, many times people don’t want to make new friends, or they don’t know how, it is easier to say in those situations that having fewer friends is better instead of actively working on yourself to have bigger chances of making new friends, even if you might not need more friends, knowing that you are a likable person and you are capable of making new friends is a great quality in life.
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5 Differences between having fewer friends or more friends.
The differences I will list below are not rules but rather how it happens for most people, there are always exceptions. For example, you can have one friend and not have a deeper friendship with that one either.
Here are the differences between having fewer friends and having more friends:
-Deeper friendships.
Usually, when we have fewer friends, we have more time for them, leading to us hanging out more often and spending more time when we hang out. That should lead to more trust and an easier time to open up and be honest, which is essential for having a better friendship and going from casual friends to closer or even intimate friends(best friends, as most people call them).
-More free time.
Some people have so many friends that almost all their free time is spent with them, some might say this is a good thing, but it is quite exhausting in the long run. Most people need time alone and without responsibilities, and having to hang out with others all the time can become more of a responsibility than a pleasure. So yes, there is such a thing as too many friends. However, you can have fewer friends but spend too much time with them, but this is not the case for most people, especially adults.
-More opportunities
When you have more friends, there are bigger chances they are from different circles and have different qualities and qualifications, which might give you a bigger chance of getting an opportunity for a job, a business, a side hustle, and so on.
Also, having friends with different backgrounds can be helpful in life when you need specific advice or help with something.
-Fewer chances of ending up without any friend
As I said, we don’t usually want to think about it, but when you have one or two friends, there are bigger chances of ending up without friends at all than someone with more friends.
If you have more friends and you lose some of them, even the best ones, you can always try to deepen the friendship with the other ones you already have, and it is much easier than finding new friends.
-Nicer parties and events
When you have more friends, you can organize bigger and nicer parties and events compared to when you have just a couple of friends. Some people might say that this is a bit superficial since you are not so close to all of them, but at parties, it is not as relevant if everybody has a good time. Check my article about the differences between a party and a gathering of friends to see what I mean by this.
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Conclusion
Having more friends might be helpful, but you should not overdo it since it can become quite a problem and time-consuming.
However, I honestly believe that the biggest problem we have as adults is not having friends at all or not having enough, the ones that have too many are the exceptions.
