Tis the season for wrap-ups and top ten lists. Friendship expert Dr. Irene S. Levine discusses blogging about friendship and reader's friendship concerns.
Since last January, I’ve posted about 202 posts about friendship either here or on my blog: The Friendship Blog. That's about four posts a week on average, most of them written early in the morning or late at night. While I've logged in considerable hours in front of a computer screen, I’ve only been able to respond to a small fraction of the questions posed by readers.
People from 11,232 cities, in 199 countries, on five different continents visited the blog this year alone, suggesting how universal is the yearning for healthy friendships. The top ten countries in 2011, in terms of numbers of visitors to the blog this year, were: the U.S., the U.K, Canada, Australia, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Ireland.
Media interest in the topic of friendship in 2011 remained strong across all demographics: I was interviewed or cited by scores of media outlets this year, including TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, books, blogs, and websites. The fact that the topic of friendship is as germane to the readers of Pregnancy & Newborn as it is to readers of HerCampus.com and AARP suggests that friendship concerns aren’t limited to certain ages or stages of life.
Top Ten Friendship Posts in 2011
Based on number of hits this year alone, the most popular blog posts included:
1. Needy Friends: A Friend Indeed? (2008)
2. Why Do Some Women Have Such a Hard Time Making Friends: Nature of Nurture? (2010)
3. Why Would Someone Have No Friends? (2011)
4. Achieving Closure After Being Dumped by a Friend at Work (2008)
5. Making Friends after 60: I Don't Want to Die Alone (2010)
6. My Friend Suddenly Shut Me Out of Her Life(2010)
7. Why Are Women So Mean to Each Other? (2010)
8. Five Not-So-Simple Rules for Mending a Broken Friendship (2010)
9. Five Ways to Unload a Toxic Friend (2008)
10. What Do You Say to Someone who has Just Lost a Friend? (2010)
Looking Back
Reviewing this list, it reflects some of the most common friendship dilemmas people face:
- Dealing with negative friends,
- Understanding and finding ways to address the loneliness of having no friends
- Finding ways to end toxic friendships,
- Learning new strategies for making friends, and
- Finding ways to mend failed friendships
I consider myself fortunate that so many people have entrusted me and others with their personal stories. Discussions of friendships, especially failed ones, are often shrouded in shame and secrecy -- yet we have so much to learn from each other.
Wishing every good wish to you all for the coming year: May your life be filled with happiness, peace, good health and rewarding friendships.
Best, Irene
Have a friendship question or dilemma? Send it to The Friendship Doctor.
