Red flag or white flag? Friend or enemy? How to avoid frenemy territory

A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 53% of U.S. adults report having between one and four close friends, 38% say they have five or more, and 8% admit to having none at all. If these numbers hold true for students at AHS, this makes me think that students have far fewer friends than we realize--and of those friends, how many are genuine versus fake?

Being in a fake friend’s territory can be scary. But after having an experience with a fake friend once before, I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned from this mistake. In other words, this article tells you about a few ways on how to identify a fake friend, if you have one.

Factors that Make You a Target for Fake Friends

Before I tell you any of the steps for identifying a fake friend, you first need to know why some people may become one of your fake friends.

One of the first reasons why and what you should look out for is, if you have a lot of money. What I mean by that is, if you’re coming to school dressed like a rich person, with a nice haircut and some jewelry, people are going to want to start to hang out with you, not because of your personality or who you are on the inside, but because of how you are on the outside. Some people will just look at you and talk about how good you look or how rich you are and how many friends you have and things you can buy. It’s just one of the important things to look out for.

Another thing you should look out for is, if you are very popular. Now, there are multiple things that could come from this, the first thing is, if you’re popular then people are going to expect or want you to act a certain way around other people, especially if the ladies hang around you. A lot of people will start coming up to you and try to get close with you either so they can break you down or so they can take the friends or girlfriend that you already have. So just make sure to beware of that.

Ways to Clock a Fake Friend

Now that I’m done with introducing some reason why people will become fake friends with you, I’ll now tell you about some steps on how to identify a fake friend if you’re in any of those situations. Or even if you’re not, you can still use these tips to help yourself in real life.

The first step on how to identify a fake friend is how they act around you when other people are present. Let’s say you and your friend were walking to lunch and you’re both laughing and talking together. But then, a group of the ‘Cool Kids’ walk up to you both and suddenly, your friend changes their attitude around you and they start to act differently. They may start hitting you, being rude to you just to make it look like they’re funny, or they may just leave you behind and go with the ‘Cool Kids’ group.

Now, the second step on how to identify a fake friend is how they act over the phone with you. What I mean by that is, if you have a friend with you and they only talk to you like, when you go to school, or when you’re out in public and you run into them, if those are the only reasons they talk to you, then they may be a fake friend. Now, that’s not really a solid reason so I’ll be backing it up more, what I mean is, if you try and text your friend and they don’t respond at all, then you see them in public and they don’t mention how you tried to text them or hang out with them, then they may be a fake friend.

Now the last and final step is, how they act when you’re not around. What I mean by that is, if your friend is not around you and they’re spreading rumors or saying rude things about you behind your back, or threatening you or trying to start random drama with you or another person, then they may be a fake friend.

Keep Your Real Friends Close

These things in life like friends and relationships, they’re very important to our human being. If we were alone all our life and were to experience such a beautiful memory, wouldn’t you want your friends to be around you?

Make sure you always keep your real friends close and the fake ones away. Don’t let a person try and come into your life and ruin it just for their own entertainment or other purposes. Make sure to look into the people who try to be close to you, and make sure they aren’t there to be fake.

Now, take these final words with you and burn them into your soul, you are worth everything in life. Don’t let someone else tell you how you should be or how you should act. You matter much more than you know, and everyone deserves better than a fake friend.

Remember, don’t try to be something you're not. You’re better off being something you are.