acquaintanceship to friendship

[Nomatophobia]

What defines the differences for you? When does someone go from being an acquaintance to a friend? A friend to a good friend? Good friend to best friend?

How does your relationship change with that person as you progress from being an acquaintance? Do you tell your good/best friends things you don't tell an acquaintance or a friend?

I realize now the term should not be loosely, so I don't call anyone my best friend. I call four people my good friends and a bunch more friends, even more acquaintances.

[Kaisada]

A friend is someone with whom interaction is maintained outside of whichever context and proximity defines the initial meeting.

A good friend is someone with whom personal thoughts can be exchanged naturally and relatively without awkwardness.

I'm not sure I like the concept of a 'best' friend. It seems to imply exclusivity more than depth of relation.

[PSY]

To me, an acquaintance is someone I've met but haven't really spent time with. Even after spending some time with them, I'm not likely to start calling them a "friend" right off the bat. A friend is someone I make an active attempt to talk to, and I'm less likely to blow them off when they want to hang out. xD A GOOD friend is someone I truly enjoy being around, no matter how stressed out I am about schoolwork, my personal life, etc. A BEST friend is, unfortunately, something I haven't had for quite some time. I guess the closest thing to a best friend would be my boyfriend, because we are able to connect on multiple levels. I see a best friend as something that is quite rare... so that's definitely not a term I throw around lightly.

I don't really define acquaintances/friends by how much I'm willing to tell them about myself, how much we have in common, etc. I make the distinction based on how comfortable I am around them... and that's not something that can be easily measured. For example, I am usually pretty awkward around acquaintances. I don't enjoy talking to them, so I keep my interactions brief. When I no longer feel awkward around them, I can talk for longer about different things, and if we have things in common, we'll probably progress to friends. A good friend would be someone I always feel at ease around, and even desire to be around. So basically, it goes from me wanting to avoid them/minimize my contact with them, to wanting to be around them/maximize my contact with them. Unfortunately, the whole process takes quite some time, which is probably why I don't have any best friends at the moment. xD

[Nicole!]

An acquaintance to me is someone whom I know, but haven't had much conversation with. They become a friend when it isn't awkward talking to them and when we generally know a bit more about each other then others. A good friend is someone who I like to hang out with and who I feel really comfortable with. A best friend is like family.

[Carpe Diem]

For me at least:

Acquaintance: Someone who's there out of need. Benefits both you and them.

Friend: Someone you start feeling comfortable around, and even strike up interesting conversations.

Good Friend: Someone you can rely on to help you out when in need even if it doesn't benefit them. Get togethers are more common and talking about personal info is more common.

Best friend: Someone you would tell life and death secrets to. You can count on them to always be there for you for support. Practically another family member.