It's important to make friends, as well as to keep our friends.  Very often, my students become my good friends, they are 18-19 years old :)

A few interesting points: 'Among age groups, 18-24-year-olds are the most likely to have a profile on a social network (86%), and also sport the highest average number of Facebook friends, at 510.  12-17-year-old Facebook users are close behind, with an average of 506 friends, with a significant drop among older age groups. Overall, Facebook users (aged 12+) responding to the study reported an average of 303 friends, up from last year’s average of 262.'

http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/18-24-year-olds-on-facebook-boast-an-average-of-510-friends-28353/

If a person is sociable and open friend can be found anywhere. My best friend I've known since childhood to 4 years.

It's important to make friends, as well as to keep our friends.  Very often, my students become my good friends, they are 18-19 years old :)

A few interesting points: 'Among age groups, 18-24-year-olds are the most likely to have a profile on a social network (86%), and also sport the highest average number of Facebook friends, at 510.  12-17-year-old Facebook users are close behind, with an average of 506 friends, with a significant drop among older age groups. Overall, Facebook users (aged 12+) responding to the study reported an average of 303 friends, up from last year’s average of 262.'

http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/18-24-year-olds-on-facebook-boast-an-average-of-510-friends-28353/

Based on the good answers and links so far i can say "In friendship, Quality counts not Quantity"

I agree with Mahmoud omid.

In fact, I don`t have time to meet my friends. Occasionally, If I find time, I meet them either through they visiting me or I can visit them at their homes.

I think that friendship, in my conception, has profound meaning as it is said "A friend in need, is a friend indeed". There are persons you know & there are persons who you pick as friends. In my case, the real friends have been some schoolmates, old neighbors, and among the colleagues. The social media introduced me to persons of high quality but it is early to categorize them as friends.

Thank you Dr. Nizar for your participation and nice the quot "A friend in need is a friend indeed". Beautifully said.. Here is another famous one you can use to check out with your friends.

Friends are born, not made. - Henry Adams

Dear @Mahmoud, I agree with dear @Vyacheslav that a  friend can be found anywhere. However, the  best friends are  childhood and elementary school friends.

Dear @Kamal, Thank you for your words on this topic. However, the fore-mentioned research found that we have more in common with colleagues than we do from old school mates. It says "The reason for this is apparently people share the strains of working in high-pressured environments and spend more hours in the office than ever before."

I my case the  order of the list is like this:

1.  Work

2. Morning walk park

3. Social networking sites

4. Foreign travel

Yes Dear @Kamal. I said during the work "in the office..." not afterwards.

Dear Mahmoud,

In my case - I have lot of nice colleagues from professional area in entire Poland, abroad and also on RG and a few proven friends from different time of my life: since primary school, high school, studies at university, foreign travels, summer schools.  @Kamal is right about differentiation between nice colleagues and close friends. The common responsibilities and qualities of ties are different as well as common involvement and experiences.

Dear @Mahmoud and friends, many good responses. Actually, we should be aware of fact that social networks and addiction led to the alienation, we meet our friends less an less!

Different places where we are most likely to meet friends have changed with technology advancement, especially the communication, internet and social networks...!

The attached list of 10 places have very good comments about! Many friendships have been lost and the need for new friends arise sometimes. Life is going on!

http://lists10.com/10-places-can-make-friends/

Like-minded personalities can be our friends. It's very important, with whom a human being can identify his/her own being. It doesn't matter, where you find a friend- in the Internet, or in your office, or in the conference,or in your own family. We can speak different languages, but we can understand each other through our hearts. We have a lot of communicators, but friends understand you without a lot of words.It's the greatest luxury to have your own circle of like-minded persons. 

I'm still making new friends :)

Dear Irina Thank you for expressing your view. I am going to disagree with ...circle of like-minded persons. Don't try to be the same as your friend - differences are what make great friends. Plus, it can get irritating and they probably won't trust your word. Show your differences and be proud of them!

Dear Mahmoud, Friends can be made anywhere and at anytime and by all the media / platforms - starting from childhood to till date....and as said above it is more important to maintain friendship and keeping friend for long, from time to time friends get changed and are replaced but true friends are always united may be meeting after years sometimes. Platforms like RG and others are good to make friends. General friends and true friends may be different in many aspects.

I mostly make my students as my friends, and enjoy all good moments in my lab. too and after that also with them, teach them all good skills and help them and guide sincerely to my best --- and I also get rel friendly senses of those fully and regard too

Very good Fatimah, keep this spirit up

I agree Mahmoud, differences make and attract friendship with a better bond, like minded may be general friend, difference can I think can help mutually gain some good things from each other.

Good Morning Friends

Wish you all a pleasant morning It’s time to start afresh, As the day is so new. Lovely blue sky, And fresh morning dew, Its time to start afresh, As the new day unfolds, To play your part with dedication, To know your role, Morning is good, as you can start new, Good morning to you all my dear friends and family, You are all among God’s chosen few!

Source: http://rishikajain.com/2014/01/24/good-morning-my-lovely-friends/

Dear Shafig. No. Would you? If I do that, then it would no longer  be regarded as a big secret.

Dear Roland.  Dr Shafiq questioned me about BIG secret. If it's a really big secret and you tell it, you may just lose a friend!

Dear Roland Thank you for definitions of "secret". In my previous answers I deliberately emphasized on the word "big" . All I was saying is this "secret" has different levels. If it is very BIG It should be kept secret.

Dear Roland,

Thank you too. Let's move on.

Regards

-M.O. 

Thank you dear Kamal.  You changed the mood. This is another proverb rooted to Arabic wisdom: Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend. Who said it? How you translate it in Arabic?

Dear Kamal. Thank you.

Dear Kamal. Thank you for making this discussion poetic and romantic. Unfortunately, some friendships are fragile due to misunderstanding, etc. How we can make them everlasting is a bit tricky. Any hint?

Good question. A friend in need is a friend indeed! So lets see where we need help, in which our friends can prove their friendships. Obviously, social network is not a place to meet friends and help them out in their problems. I assume we most often require our colleagues' help, that's why people who work with us have a better opportunity to conquer our heart and become our friends. The same happens for the time we were at uni. Students who were with us in a same team to tackle assignments, students who sat with us to prepare for exams, and people who stood next to us in our graduation had a big opportunity to be our friends and vice versa. 

Dear Amir. Thank you for sharing your views on this topic. Well said.

Thanks Dear Prof Kamal - "Friendship should not build on the idea of exchanging benefits. It is build on mutual love, respect, honesty and sincerity" - and I believe such kind of friendship is forever. Other beneficial friendship (give and take based) have limited life span. 

Dear Kuldeep. Thank you for your remarks. But there should be an exception (or Warning). No one can make real friends via social nets (or internet in general), because in order to have a true friendship one must be truthful and we don't know who is being truthful on the net.

Agreed @Mahmoud, social ntework friend's truthful cannot be verified fully 

We take friends for granted. As we raise families we neglect friends. We don’t put in the effort to make and keep friends. Let's look at a survey published in Time.

"In a survey given in 1985 [link to the source is given below], people were asked to list their friends in response to the question “Over the last six months, who are the people with whom you discussed matters important to you?” The most common number of friends listed was three; 59 percent of respondents listed three or more friends fitting this description. The same survey was given again in 2004. This time the most common number of friends was zero. And only 37 percent of respondents listed three or more friends. Back in 1985, only 10 percent indicated that they had zero confidants. In 2004, this number skyrocketed to 25 percent. One out of every four of us is walking around with no one to share our lives with."

http://time.com/24122/how-to-make-friends-easily-and-strengthen-the-friendships-you-have/

Hi Prof. Mahmoud Omid; I do agree with the findings you quoted in describing your question. Since I am having quite open and sociable personality. Hence I do not have any problem in finding friends at any time of my life till know. Only thing is that I always keep the freindship intact from my side and always do the freindship without any greed. Regards

Dear Dr. Dubey Thank you for your comment. The result of the survey was for UK. I think there might be some differences in my country or even India. So we should look at it with skepticism. Social media are not developed in here, or at least we dont have national ones. We do have Viber, Skype and even FB, etc, some of which filtered out.

We are interested in not in quantity of friends, but in quality. Interesting people (it doesn't matter their age, position, or country) are everywhere, and it's wonderful that they are in the social nets. I'm deeply fond of cultures, and it's so fascinating to communicate with people all over the world. I'm against stereotypes and "phobia" of all kinds. I'm happy to communicate with highly intellectual and noble people on RG. 

Quantity or Quality? Thank you Irina and Roland for your comments. When we do shopping, If we need high quality goods we need to pay more! A true friendship can be found by analogy. I prefer quality rather than quantity. But nowadays the world is becoming more mobile, so people prefer quantity over quality.

George Eliot “Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words.”

Thanks

Dear Mahmoud,

"Sapienti Sat."It's very often, our nearest are our far.

Dear Irina and friends, just now the students in the pic above, came to my cubicle after their Physics exam.  They were very sad that I will not be their Biology Tutorial teacher next semester.  There were many changes due to movement of lecturers out of the college.  I was amazed that I suddenly had 5 practical classes next semester, less tutorials.  But it means a lot of marking.  So I told them they mentioned in an online survey that I teach them creatively, always punctual and even enjoy teaching Practical.  But they forgot to say that I enjoy teaching tutorials! :)

Dear Irina, "Sapienti Sat." what ever it means. It sounds quality to me. Thank you

Dear Roland, Very thoughtful quot and wise advise. Thank you. 

Martin Luther King once said “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”  

Friends are all around us. We need to couragious to reach out them and leave our self protections behind, which sets a barrier between us and others.

Understand how individuals, groups are politically socialized; and learn what the main agents of socialization are in society

http://elearning.la.psu.edu/plsc/003/lesson-2

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” ― Tehyi Hsieh

Be very selective when it comes to choosing friends. People now a days don't know the true meaning of friendship & loyalty. -Anonymous

Dear Mahmoud Omid,

It depends on the situation and events. The meeting place with friends can be a sports event, villas, cafes, museums, concerts, parks, etc.

Regards, Shafagat

10 Places where you can Make Friends

We all are born with many relations, that of a father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousins, grandparents and who not? But friendship is a relation we gain in our lifetime. Friends, truly, are the best parts of our lives. It is true that our friends, the close ones, know more about us than our parents or families. So many films being made on friendship, so many good books written, we all want that true friend in life. While most of us, rather all of us, already have good friends from a very early age, we do not really mind making new friends. We never know when these “new” friends become an important part of our lives too and we end up sharing some great moments together. But where can we get or make these new friends? Obviously, we cannot get hold of a random person walking on street and try to develop a healthy friendship with him or her. This list provides the places where we are most likely to meet new people and make friends.

See link for 10 places!

http://lists10.com/10-places-can-make-friends/

From learning new languages to expanding your knowledge on a whole host of subject matters– attached comprehensive list of the best resources to learn something new is all you'll ever need. Even better, you can learn at your own pace and on the go.

http://www.creativeboom.com/resources/58-of-the-best-websites-and-apps-to-learn-something-new/

In my opinion, normally we used to make good friends at schools and college level. These friends are really of good quality as we used to spend much more time with them. The second stage of friendship is at working place. Such type of friendship is something lake friend in need. The third stage of friendship is while doing some tour. These types of friendships are rather short term, but may last longer. Nowadays, we are even having many more friends through using social media like Facebook, Twitter, google+ etc. However, these types of friends are not reliable.

Regards,

MN Alam

Yes our blood relations are our first friends!

As the time goes down, we befriend people at various peer levels. Some times friendships comes like a flash, may be in a train,Bus or during some temporal space.

But true friendship is permanently etched in our hearts.

See ...

See ...

Teens, Technology and Friendships

Video games, social media and mobile phones play an integral role in how teens meet and interact with friends

It is a report by:AMANDA LENHART

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/

In Sebia.

It's fine to have social media that connects us with old friends, but we need tools that help us discover new people as well. -Ethan Zuckerman

True friends are always with us- at work, at social media.They can be tested through time.True friends can't hurt. It differs them from "friends" in chance.

Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I think your question really are several questions. I guess in the end the number of friends depends on the meaning you want to give to that word and, whatever its meaning, depend on a cumulative relationship over time (to increase due to age and decreased by loss contact or mortality) and corresponds to a ratio of supply and demand for social goods such as the demand for support, the need for training and experience, the requirement of socialization, intensity and demands of family life. Of course, the spaces of social life, such as work, school and clubs are by their very nature and time that is intended to stay in these areas conducive to forming friendships or relevant and reliable social relations by shared commitments and interest and exchange relations treated multiple laps. Now, social networks are new mechanisms to communicate with acquaintances or to forge relationships that can be considered friendship, as at the time they were means such as phone, which kept ties or the perception of friendship with physically distant but personal relevant people.

Dear Ricardo  Thank you for your comments. Actually, I meant finding true (long lasting) friends.

“The more time we spend interconnected via a myriad of devices, the less time we have left to develop true friendships in the real world.” ― Alex Morritt

Due to some illness of my wife, it is extremely difficult to get new friends, except the digital one's! My situation is well described  by the poem:

Walls

Without consideration, without pity, without shame

they have built great and high walls around me.

And now I sit here and despair.

I think of nothing else: this fate gnaws at my mind;

for I had many things to do outside.

Ah why did I not pay attention when they were building the walls.

But I never heard any noise or sound of builders.

Imperceptibly they shut me from the outside world.

Constantine P. Cavafy (1896)

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.” » George Moore

Friends can become any where and any time, but important is how long we maintain friendship.

Friends can start anywhere and also at anytime so far it is for a good motive

“The most valuable gift you can receive is an honest friend.” ― Stephen Richards

“If you have two friends in your lifetime, you're lucky. If you have one good friend, you're more than lucky.” ― S.E. Hinton

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” — Dale Carnegie

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.

                                                                             ----   Leo Buscaglia

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

When two people first meet, they can only have a very ordinary kind of friendship. But when you begin to understand each other, when you get close to them, you discover that you're suddenly eager to know him or her even better.

                                                                                 ----   Zhang Ziyi

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

Never be afraid to meet to the hilt the demand of either work, or friendship - two of life's major assets.

                                                              ----   Eleanor Robson Belmont

I agree with 1. and 2. - university and at the start of carriert

We should remember that great friends are hard to fine, difficult to leave, impossible to forget. Joseph Parry said: "Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold. "

“Three things in life you will never have to chase: True friends, true love and your destiny!” ― Alex Haditaghi

Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins. We parry and fend the approach of our fellow-man by compliments, by gossip, by amusements, by affairs. We cover up our thought from him under a hundred folds. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Friendship," Essays, 1841

Friendship happens when we are open and the other one is willing.

- Krishnan Umachandran

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer