Friendship is an old theme, yet one which in recent years has gained new relevance due to changing social structures and network communication. It is precisely because of the inflationary use of the word “friend” in the Facebook community that a need has arisen to communicate what a real, a true friend is. There are many suggestions how to give the term meaning, not least in the philosophical tradition since Aristotle. But instead of defining what it takes for a person to merit this laurel, one can also ask the question which emotional needs are being satisfied in the friendships that we are already cultivating. It turns out that it is not always the one and only true friend who determines our emotional experience, but rather an ecology of friendships, in which groups are as important as twos and threes. The introduction will preview a range of issues to be dicussed over the course of the conference.