Every morning, I wake up and do the one thing you aren’t supposed to do right after waking up: scroll through Instagram.

All I see in comment sections: “Best fucking friend,” “OMG you’re my best friend,” “LOVE YOU BEST FRIEND.”

This is my cue to throw my phone across the bed and sigh at the performance we’re all expected to deliver.

The endless posts that declare undying love for what seems like a new “best friend” every six months make me wonder: in an age of endless visibility, does best friendship now equal visibility instead of true connection?

Visibility as friendship

We all know the saying: " Don’t judge a book by its cover. But now we’re judging books by their comment sections.

Visibility does not equal friendship.

Social media convinces us that if two people are professing their love on a grid or private story, it must be true. Visibility is killing our standards for friendship, creating a delusion that performer and audience both buy into.