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I'm looking for a word that defines the direction of friendship between two people.

For example, when I say "I am friends with John" or "John is my friend". How would I describe the same thing, but from John's perspective.

The reason I ask is that I am trying to write a database schema that uses words to define the direction of friendships. One possible option is to use two phrases "friend with" and "friends to". So that I could describe who John is friends with from both directions.

If this doesn't make any sense, sorry ;)

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    Friendship is a symmetric relation. So when X is Y's friend, Y is X's friend as well.
    – Gigili
    Commented Dec 24, 2012 at 18:56
  • To add to what @Gigili said, like is the potentially non-symmetric relation. X likes Y but Y does not like X. X might want Y to be their friend but they are not friends unless X and Y like each other.
    – Jim
    Commented Dec 24, 2012 at 19:07

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Most systems use "friend" only for symmetric relationships. Someone in an asymmetric relationship is typically a "fan" or a "follower" (sometimes a "subscriber" or a "watcher").

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