Friendship by the Numbers

This post will make a lot more sense come January or so, but for now I wanted to give you a statistical look at my friends list. I am mostly looking at where they came from, when we met, and when we last saw each other. This is pretty barebones now, but as stated earlier, this will be relevant in January.

Before we start, some clarifications. This data was compiled at the beginning of October, so it does not take every friend on my list into account. Also, some people fit into multiple groups because they played a significant role in my life in multiple areas.

Stone Church

This group comprises the most members (98), which makes sense because it’s the one place I’ve spent the greatest amount of time involved with. I attended Stone Church Christian Academy from 1992-2001 and attended the church on and off from 1988-2009. It is a very diverse group of people on the list, comprising my closest group of friends, my former classmates, youth group members, and students I subbed for/taught computers for in the latter part of the last decade. I met them all between 1990 and 2008, but have not seen most of them after 2009.

Tinley Park High School

I met these 97 members during my high school years (2001-2005). Never really feeling like I fit in, I lost touch with most of them after 2005, though I have seen a handful of them in 2010.

Palos Bible Church

Speaking of not fitting in, I made PBC my youth group from 2000-2003. Over that amount of time, I met 31 of these friends. I have fallen out of touch with all of them and have only seen a couple since 2007.

Christian Hills Church

I spent a stint in the mid- to late-1990s at this church, and seven friends come from there. Only one have I seen in the 2000s.

Family

I have three family members on my friends list, and I see them all at least once a year. Moving on.

Super Target

I worked there from 2005-2008, making 30 Facebook friends in the process. Other than the occasional dropping by to Super Target to pick up Full Throttle or body spray, I have not seen my former coworkers since 2008.

Richards High School

I met all these kids during my stint as “Mr. D.” in 2008. Most are graduated now, and I haven’t seen any of the 20 of them since a football game in 2009.

Camp

The highlight of my summers during my high school years (2001-2005), I met seven friends there. While I keep in touch with most, I haven’t seen most of them since 2005 (other than a chance meeting with Hoover this year).

College

Between my time at ONU from 2005-2008 and my semester at GSU in 2010, I have made 35 friends. Those from ONU I have not seen since 2008, while those from GSU I have obviously seen this year.

GameFAQs

Between the Animal Crossing Social Board and Paper Mario social, I have made 32 friends from the site, most of whom I met in 2004 but none that I have met in person to date. This group includes my two closest online friends, Ken and Zach.

Stickam

Since joining the site in 2008, I have made 26 friends, most of whom I met in 2010. While I have only met Melmo in person (2009), I “see” almost all of them on a regular basis because we chat on cam together. Very eclectic and interesting group of people.

Real Life Miscellany

This group includes people I’ve met in real life circumstances that don’t merit a group. These include friends of friends, girls who ran track against my sister who I now engage in epic poke wars with, the cute girl who used to take my number while I worked out at Cardinal, or someone who I sought out after finding her in a school newspaper, only to have a great friendship, failed romantic pursuit, failed friendship, and resurrection of great friendship! This group measures 14 in total, most of which I have seen this year.

Online Miscellany

This group is similar to the above group, only that I met these people through random places online between 2005 and the present. I have actually met four of the 29 in person this year.