National Friendship Day was this past Sunday (FWIW I did NOT know Friendship Day was a thing until I starting working at Snapchat :). This week I share an interview I did with my son about how he uses technology to stay in touch with his closest friend who lives in another state. As a parent it was reassuring to hear that allowing him to use technology to stay in touch has indeed been a positive experience. That said, its not set it and forget— you’ll definitely want to pay attention to what they are doing!
When your best friend lives really far away
Hi Buddy!
Hi Mom!
Ok first, thank you for letting me interview you. Can you tell my readers a little about yourself?
I’m 10 years old. I like basketball and video games and junk food.
What do you think makes a good a friend?
A good friend is somebody that plays with you and understands you and you like the same stuff so you don’t fight over what you should play or do.
Tell me about your best friend.
His name is D____. He’s 10 like me. He loves cars and he has his own YouTube channel. He’s a funny guy. We’ve known each other 8 or 9 years.
He doesn’t live in our town anymore. So how do you guys stay in touch?
We FaceTime with our parents’ phones.
What sorts of things do you do together?
We talk and we play video games— mostly Minecraft. And, we goof around.
Do you think technology has been good or bad for your friendship?
Its been good. I’ve been able to stay in touch with him and we can connect to play video games together.
Do you like having a long distance friend?
In some aspects yes and some no. I love hanging out with him on FaceTime but its better when I see him in person.
What do you like about being long distance?
Its fun having calls and working on something together. We do Minecraft builds together. We only have a certain amount of time in a day to work on them so we have to really pay attention.
What don’t you like about being long distance?
Sometimes I have other stuff or he has other stuff to do so we can’t always talk when we want to. And that we have to talk through our parents’ phones. But mostly I wish I could see him more in person.
Anything else you want to share?
If you’re gonna play a video game with your friends online, make a hard access code to join the game. If you make an easy code, strangers might find you and no one likes playing with strangers! Its creepy. That happened to us the first time.
Yikes! So a few reflections post-interview:
I’m so happy we live in an age where technology can help my guy stay close with his friend despite the distance.
Its clear he sees the value in real life time together although I’m sad for him that he misses his friend.
Oh and um yeah I definitely need to pay attention to what they are doing on those calls. Its time for the talk about strangers on the internet! I’m really glad I asked that question!
Thanks for reading! Paying subscribers read on to hear what the kids did when the stranger joined their game + we get some recommendations for my kid’s favorite YouTube channels including a few that parents might also enjoy!
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