What Friendship Means in a World of Likes and Algorithms

We translate Plato’s Lysis into the world of apps, followers, and DMs to ask: what is friendship when platforms shape how we connect? Socrates interrogates familiar answers—likeness, need, usefulness, loving the good—and shows why none fully capture friendship’s depth. This episode traces how algorithms, parasociality, and subscription-like incentives warp relationships, then offers practical questions and virtues to rebuild real, durable friendships online.