This was a common criticism in my circles (friends, work colleagues, acquaintances in tech meetups) in the mid-to-late 00s with Facebook: They called all contacts "friends" and in German that really sounded off to many of us. You wouldn't be "friends" with your relatives or boss or colleague at work, for example, those are entirely different kind of relationships. We assumed that this was a badly translated Americanism.
Google Plus and it's "circles" of contacts was a better design in that regard.
Google Plus and it's "circles" of contacts was a better design in that regard.