It would start at the bottom... 'people I know' Not a very glorified term, but it does aptly describe them.

Next there are aquaintances, into which most would fall. Usually these would be co-workers, schoolmates, people you may do activities with every now and again, etc. You hang out with them, you can talk about all sorts of stuff with them, you have plenty o' fun, work next to them, etc. However, there's little emotional attachment to them. You wouldn't necessarily go out of your way to help them out of a bind, you don't go to them for personal advice or life problems, and, largest of all, they may come and go and you wouldn't feel slighted.

One may also have good aquaintances, ones you do spend plenty of time with, and you would feel a bit smited should they suddenly take a different turn. But they still aren't confidants. You do tons of activities with them, have great times, but there still lies no strings.

Friends would be the next level up. In essence, they are like (good)aquaintances, _BUT_ you have some, or more, emotional attachment to them. You would definitively help them out in a bind, and vice versa, and you do take some care and interest in how their lives are going. If they turn and leave on you, you would feel hurt. You would most certainly wonder why.

Good Friends and Close Friends are not necessarily the same, though they may be. Good Friends are friends that go beyond the normal level of friendship, to someone with whom you would gladly spend lots of time with, have been friends for many years, through a lot of stuff, have super times with, who you care about lots, etc.

Close friends are friends with whom you also share the more personal-like conversations with, be it life stuff, relationships, etc. As it implies, you are close with them.

Usually a close friend will also be a good friend, but the reverse isn't always necessarily true. And there are certainly levels in between.

A level above would be a BF/GF. This is a good and close friend with whom you are in some form of relationship, likely commited to each other in some way, or going 'steady'.

I realize it is sounding either sterile, or lame, but it is hard to describe.

Is there any difference, necessarily, from a Close and Good friend to a BF/GF, in terms of feelings? Likely yes, but not to as great an extent as other levels before. BF/GF is more of a denotation of a commitment to someone.

To be Lovers is an expression of the closeness or good-ness of a friendship. To share and to demark a good, close, or loving friends. BF/GF or no. Lovemaking is an expression of care, deep friendship, of closeness, and love.

Soul-mates could be another way to describe the closeness of some relationships, a quasi-BF/GF realm.

If you commit, forever onward, to one soul as a mate... then that is what they are, a mate. Consider it in the old sense of marriage, I guess. Not that a mating is all that marriage is/was(n't).

A final bit to this 'philosophy':

From 'people I know' to aquaintance there isn't much of a jump, but from aq to friend, there is quite the jump... it'd be pretty linear to good/close friends, and not necessarily much of a rise up to g/bf/mate....

Of course, I've also gotten more cynical over the years... :P

And its not that I've always had these kinds of opinions and this philosophy--it has changed quite dramatically over the past few years...

Oh... where do cyber-friends fit into this? Cyberfriends are, for the most part, considered aquaintances, with regards to RL. Should they become real good cyberfriends, they may be considered friends in the real sense... though a real meeting, lots of emails and some phone calls would likely be required for that...

More?

Friendship is very much based on TRUST. While there may be many things that separate aquaintances and friends, and perhaps even friends and good friends, TRUST is one of the biggest ones. If you cannot TRUST your friend, then they are not a friend. Period. If you cannot believe what they say, if you cannot put faith in them or their actions, if you are second guessing their intentions... then there is no TRUST and they cannot be friends. It is true, TRUST is hard to gain, and all to easy to destroy. Many things on the philosophy page are good builders or instant wreckers of TRUST. Be aware, think, and care.

It may take so little to start eroding TRUST. Once something comes to the fore that begins doubt, then everything else, no matter how strong, can get called into question. Doubt can begin to grow. If even one event, one statement, one item can be untruthful, how can one be sure that all else is not also untrue? If someone can lie on one front, can they not lie on other, or all, fronts? Quickly, everything is thrown into a light of question; TRUST is not a given, and the future of the friendship is decidedly on an unsteady course.

It doesn't have to be a lie, per say. It can be many a thing that calls into question what the other actually feels for you, actually thinks of you, actually wants from you. Whether they even think of you. Like dominos, it can topple many a thing built up over time.

Is it an item of no return, of certain wreckage? No. But it can and will take time to repair the TRUST, and, just as important, the FAITH.