Friendship Day 2025: Seen-Zone Bonds Or Lasting Connections?

In a world where everyone’s juggling work calls, gym memberships, mental health, and a never ending list of unread emails, friendships seem to have quietly slipped into the ‘low effort’ category. You’ve probably seen the Instagram reels that go, ‘We don’t talk for months, but when we meet, it’s like nothing changed.’ Sweet? Sure. But also... is that enough?

Friendships are supposed to be the warm blanket we reach for when life gets cold. But lately, even that blanket seems to be buried somewhere under the laundry pile.

“I think adulthood is just texting ‘Let’s meet soon’ and never meeting,” says Naina S, a marketing executive. She recalls a close school friend she drifted apart from, not because of a fight, but simply because life happened. “We used to talk randomly and send birthday wishes. But sometimes I was busy, sometimes she was. It just kept stretching. Now, I realized it had been over a year and we don’t talk anymore. That’s how adults lose friendships, not with a bang, but with less effort.”

Are we all just bad friends?

Not exactly. It’s more about how friendships are evolving. “Low maintenance friendships are neither a downgrade nor necessarily a reflection of emotional exhaustion. Like everything in the world, friendships are evolving too, especially with the changing lifestyle. Burnouts are real, shorter attention spans are further shrinking, but friendships should not have to be affected by these. Hence, there is a need for redefinition about how friendship looks like today,” says Ravi Mittal, founder and CEO of QuackQuack.

And he's not wrong. While some of us are hanging on to our closest friends through memes and the occasional ‘I saw this and thought of you’ texts, others are finding new friends and keeping them maintained online.

Ravi shares that QuackQuack’s data shows at least two out of ten users who made a close friend on the app stayed in touch even after six months. “These are not like random social media exchanges. Most people log in to dating apps to find genuine connections. The hope is for something romantic, but in between all of that, some people find real friends. Since the goal is for long-term relationships, usually even friendships on apps last.” 

Friendships on wifi

Nita M, a millennial, shares a similar story. “After college, we all got caught up in life. Some work friends lost touch after changing jobs. I do have a few friends with whom I don’t talk for months, but we exchange messages or call once in a while because of the effort both of us are putting in. Sadly, I’m not in touch with any school friends anymore. Not even my once-best friend. We reconnected on Facebook, and that was that.”

But are these casual, low-effort check-ins enough to keep a friendship alive? Or are we settling for the idea of connection instead of the real thing? Ravi believes online spaces may actually be leading the way in restoring effort-based friendships. “A recent survey showed that over 15% of young daters between 18 and 25 put more effort into online platonic connections than their offline social circles. Because these online friendships feel safer. There’s less judgment, more scope to be openly vulnerable, and no need for small talk and pretense. Showing up emotionally was enough,” he says. 

Effort is always needed 

Artist manager Nandni Mandal puts it simply, “Every relationship needs work. The kind of work just looks different. For some people, effort means showing up every week. For others, it’s a birthday text that says, ‘I remembered.’ If you love someone, you learn what kind of effort they need.”

Maybe that’s the real key. Friendship doesn’t have to be about constant communication or weekly brunches with matching sunglasses. But it does need a little intentionality. A bit of showing up, a bit of checking in. A simple “How are you really?” can go a long way.

Low-maintenance friendships can be beautiful. They take the pressure off and remind us that love doesn’t always need loud declarations. But effort, even the smallest, matters.

Because in the chaos of adulting, when jobs get hectic and life gets weird, it’s your people who keep you grounded. They don’t need you every day, but they do need to know they matter.

So, this Friendship Day, send that text. Make that call. Share that embarrassing reel. Because friendship isn’t about grand gestures, it’s about the quiet little ones that mean, ‘I’m still here for you.’ And that’s your Friendship Day gift to yourself and your friends.