The buzz about long-distance romantic relationships is pretty negative. They don’t tend to last due to the distance, and therefore time, apart from each other. Friendships, however, are a little easier to maintain.

For example, my best friend, Sara, lives in Ohio. She attends Ohio University and I don’t get to see her as often as I used to. I went from seeing her almost every weekend to only seeing her on special occasions. 

Sara and I met through our dads. They work together and we’ve been inseparable ever since I met her when I was a toddler. We had our own little “family friend group,” but Sara and I grew closer than anyone else.

It had always been a tradition of ours to go up to Sara’s family’s camp in Kennerdell., PA and stay for a few nights. There’s no cell service up in Kennerdell, so it was a nice way to just step away from technology and enjoy each other’s company for a few days. We would build a tent, drive the golf cart, swim in the lake, and roast marshmallows. 

I miss Sara every day, and I wish she was still only a ten-minute drive away. Now, she’s three hours away. However, we have not lost our special bond since she moved away. We continuously update each other on what’s going on in our lives through videos on Snapchat. Not to mention, she never fails to send me the entirety of her TikTok feed on a daily basis. 

It’s also easy to keep her in the loop of everything going on in my life. I immediately send her videos as soon as they occur in my life. I’m not sure how she manages to remember all my friends’ names. Whenever she tells me about her own drama, I have to ask about fifty million times who these people are.

I don’t think a single day has gone by where Sara and I haven’t sent a video to each other. We talk daily about the most random things. Just the other day, I sent her a video at 10:30 at night just rambling about my favorite musicals.

We both have a pretty good perspective on what’s going on in each other’s life. Simple daily videos of updates really go a long way. It helps to keep the both of us in the loop. 

People tend to look at the negative side of social media and all its flaws. However, they fail to see the pros that often outweigh the cons. Were it not for social media, I would probably have to call Sara every single day, which is an inconvenience for both of us. Even with our extremely busy schedules, social media allows us to take just a few seconds out of our day and talk to each other. 

Though communication via social media wouldn’t be my first choice for maintaining our connection, it has undoubtedly proven to be useful. When I really think about it, Sara isn’t actually three hours away from me; she’s just a few clicks away from having a conversation.