Report on Friends 'Til The End

Smart girls decide for themselves™.

Who took this survey?

There were 1173 girls, 21 boys, and 25 people that chose not to answer. Of these 1219 SmartGirls, most reported that they were the oldest (425 responses), followed by the youngest (364 responses), middle children (254 responses), and only children (142 responses). Most SmartGirls reported that they are from a big city (309) or a town (404 responses). The average age was 12 years old, with a range from age six to over 22 years old. There were also quite a few 13 year olds (198 responses) and 14 year olds (163 responses) that answered our survey.

Age

Younger, older, or same age?

When polling SmartGirls about whether their best friend was younger, the same age, or older than them, we found that most girls (775 responses) said their best friend was the same age. The next most frequent answer was that their best friend was older (212 responses), followed by their best friend being younger than them (184 responses).

Age of Best Friend

What do you and your best friend have in common?

Best friends have been known to have lots of things in common--many times it is these commanalities that cause us to become friends in the first place! Most SmartGirls said that their best friend liked the same stuff as them (e.g. music, clothes, books, etc.), went to the same school together, and shared similar personalities.

Things in Common

Where did you meet your best friend?

So an overwhelming amount of people said that they met their best friend at school (879 responses). That definitely helps the school day go by faster when you have friends there! The second answer that received a decent amount of votes is SmartGirls reporting that their best friend was first their neighbor (87 responses).

Where You Met Your BF

Let's talk about friends

If your friendship was like a movie, what type of movie would it be? We wanted to know what type of movie your friendships would most relate to and here's the breakdown of what we found: SciFi: 19 responses Drama: 167 responses Comedy: 703 responses Classic: 39 responses Action: 86 responses Sad: 39 responses Boring: 28 responses No type of movie: 97 responses What phrase best describes you and your best friend(s)? SmartGirls told us that their best friend and them could be described as Peanut butter and jelly (196 responses), Rich and Famous (111 responses), Beavis and Butthead (110 responses), Two peas in a pod (189 responses), The Three Musketeers (200 responses), or Birds of a feather flock together (131 responses). There were 236 people that said that none of those categories could really descibe their friendship. If your best friend was an animal, what kind of animal would s/he be? The truth comes out now about what you really think about your best friend(s)!! We found that 339 SmartGirls said their best friend was like a Dog (loyal and playful), 416 said Monkey (energetic and funny), 137 said Bunny (quiet and trustworthy), 116 said Cat (sneaky and sweet), 81 said Peacock (beautifully unique), 58 said Lion (bossy and in charge), and 20 said Snake (sly and cunning). If you and your best friend were a part of a singing group, which group would you be? Many SmartGirls responded that they would not be part of a singing group (381 responses), but the rest said that if they were part of a singing group with their best friend they would be in... 1. Destiny's Child (308 reponses) 2. SpiceGirls (95 responses) 3. TLC (85 responses) 4. Tie between: 3LW (81 responses) & Dream (81 responses) 5. B2K (72 responses) 6. SClub7 (61 responses) 7. Salt 'N Peppa (27 responses)

Singing Group You'd Be In

All About Your Best Friend

How many best friends do you have? It’s not uncommon for people to have lots of friends but no one to call their best friend, for someone to have one single best friend, to hang out with a group of 2 other best friends, or have a ton of best friends. There are so many different combinations! We wanted to know how many best friends you had. The majority of SmartGirls said they had more than 4 best friends (314 responses). There were 29 people that said they did not have a best friend, 286 that said they had one best friend, 290 said they have two best friends, and 186 said they have three best friends. How long have you known your best friend(s)? Remember the old saying, "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold..." Well that definitely applies! Best friends are great whether you have known them all your life, or whether you've just recently met them. We asked SmartGirls how long they've known their best friend and here's what we found: 1-2 years: 309 responses 3-4 years: 285 responses 5-6 years: 199 responses Too long to remember: 390 responses How many times do you and your best friend fight per week? Fighting happens all the time, but how much does it happen between you and your best friend? Most of you said that you never ever fight (890), 138 said 1 fight/week, 76 said 2 fights/week, 37 said 3 fights/week, 11 said 4 fights/week, and 25 said they fight over 4 times per week! That's over half the week spent fighting with your best friend! Luckily the majority of you said that you never ever have fights. What is the most important personality trait of a best friend? A lot of characteristics attract us to who we want to hang out with and who we do not. The most important personality traits can usually be found in one's best friend--that is what attracted us to become and stay friends with them! SmartGirls said that the most important thing to them was that their best friend was loyal, caring, and a good listener. Whether a friend had money, popularity, or was pretty did not matter much.

Most Important Trait

If your best friend told a secret of yours, what would you do?

You all recall the famous "You have to promise me you won't tell ANYONE" phrase we all tend to use even though we know secrets are meant to be kept for no one else to know... but sometimes you just have to spill something to your best friend. Well what if you found out your best friend spilled your secret? How would you react? Stop talking to him/her: 101 reponses Talk to him/her about it, and try to work it out: 672 responses Stop telling him/her your secrets and continue to be their best friend: 264 responses Ignore the situation and continue to be their best friend: 155 responses

Reaction to Secret Telling

What do you like to do and where do you like to go with your best friend?

What kind of activities do you do with your best friends? Most of us like to do TONS of things with our best friends and we wanted to know what you personally like to do. We got lots of different responses but here is a breakdown of it all below listed from the most number of responses to the least. The number in the parentheses is the number of responses we got for that answer. 1. Movies (760) 2. Shop (756) 3. Eat (720) 4. School (606) 5. Games (597) 6. Sports (376) 7. Hang out (80) 8. Talk on Phone (53) 9. Sleepovers (33), Everything (33) 10. Party (16) 11. Dance (15), Check out boys (15) 12. Gossip (11), Listen/play music (11) 13. Youth group (10), Internet/Chat (10) 14. Church/ Sing (6), Concerts (6) 15. Road trips (5) 16. Drive around (4) 17. Dates (3), Crafty Stuff (3), Read (3) 18. Babysitting (2), TV (2) 19. Get Coffee (1), Homework (1), Makeovers (1), Cook (1), Work (1) Where do you most like to hang out with your best friend? Judging from the graph presented below, we can see that your favorite hangout with your best friend was not one of the places we listed, but someplace unique to you and your best bud. Of the places that we listed, hanging out at their house or your house was the popular vote, followed by the mall and at the movies.

Favorite Hang Out With BF

How much do you tell your best friend about your life?

Friends are there to be a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, but mostly someone to talk to when you need them. We asked SmartGirls how much they told their best friend about their life. A whopping 531 people said, "Everything! S/he's the first person I tell if something happens!", 496 said, "Most things, I'd probably tell her/him most things, but not all!", 115 said, "Only some things. I have to watch my back!", 17 said, "I hardly tell her/him anything, s/he will tell the whole world!", and 14 people said that they did not have a best friend.

How Much Do You Tell Your BF

If you had a crush on your best friend's boyfriend, what would you do?

The age old question of what to do when two people like the same guy... and they are best friends! We asked what you would do if you had a crush on your best friend's boyfriend and we definitely got mixed results. The majority of you (40.12%) said that you just wouldn't have a crush on your friend's man, 33.05% said that you would tell her, but respect their relationship, 24.53% said they would keep quiet and keep crushing, and 2.3% said they would just steal him from her. Ruthless!!

What You'd Do If you Liked Your BF's Boyfriend

Where's your ultimate vacation?

If you could go anywhere in the world with your best friend on a vacation, what type of place would it be? Here is what SmartGirls said: Partying in a big city: 32.39% Sunbathing on a beach: 29.73% Exploring someplace exotic: 16.54% A week on the couch with movies and music, pigging out on junk food: 15.42% An action packed expedition: 5.91%

Ultimate Vacation Location

If your best friend moved really far from you, how do you (or would you) keep in touch?

Having a best friend move away can be a really tough thing to go through. We wanted to know what you would do if your best friend moved far away from you. From the table below you can see that 374 SmartGirls said they would phone their friend, 271 said they would send lots of emails, 199 SmartGirls said they would instant message them all the time, 164 said writing letters was the way to go, 139 said they would try to visit as much as possible, and 22 said they wouldn't keep in touch--they'd just find new best friends!

What You'd Do If Your BF Moved

count percent Moved Letters 164 14.03 Email 271 23.18 Phone 374 31.99 IMs 199 17.02 Visit 139 11.89 Nothing 22 1.88

Quick Thoughts on Your Best Friend

Agree or Disagree: Ten years from now, my best friend will still be my best friend. Strongly Agree: 538 responses, 45.67% Agree: 498 responses, 42.28% Disagree: 112 responses, 9.51% Strongly Disagree: 30 responses, 2.55% Looks like most of your definitely agree that your best friend now will be your best friend in ten years! Agree or Disagree: My parents like my best friend(s). Strongly Agree: 613 responses, 52.35% Agree: 450 responses, 38.43% Disagree: 73 responses, 6.23% Strongly Disagree: 35 responses, 2.99% Agree or Disagree: I consider one of my family members to be one/my best friend Strongly Agree: 289 responses, 24.81% Agree: 387 responses, 33.22% Disagree: 410 responses, 35.19% Strongly Disagree: 79 responses, 6.78% Agree or Disagree: I can trust my best friend with a secret. Strongly Agree: 619 responses, 53% Agree: 466 responses, 39.9% Disagree: 57 responses, 4.88% Strongly Disagree: 26 responses, 2.23% Agree or Disagree: My best friend will be my best friend forever. Check out the table below to see what SmartGirls around the world responded. It looks like most SmartGirls are optimistic that their best friend will be their best friend forever!

My Best Friend Will Be My Best Friend Forever

count percent ForeverFriend StrongAgree 528 45.64 Agree 445 38.46 Disagree 153 13.22 StrongDisagree 31 2.68

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!

Please remember that all web-based polls are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the respondents to participate in the surveys.

All our surveys are anonymous; check out our privacy policy. All data copyright 1996-2000.