random thoughts about friendship

If this was a "train" of thought... a few cars went missing along the way. I just hope I didn't derail and not know it.

What makes a friend?
According to the Webster dictionary its:
"friend"
1 a: one attached to another by affection or esteem b: acquaintance
2 a: one that is not hostile b: one that is of the same nation, party, or group
3: one that favors or promotes something (as a charity)
4: a favored companion

Now personally I think we through the term "friend" around allot. (Kind oh how we either "love" or "hate" everything and how so many things are considered "awesome".) Then we have our acquaintances

"acquaintance"
1 a: the state of being acquainted b: personal knowledge : familiarity
2 a: the persons with whom one is acquainted b: a person whom one knows but who is not a particularly close friend

See here is the problem I'm having... everyone seems to think "acquaintances" are really "friends" otherwise all these networking websites would seem a whole crap load smaller. That or maybe I'm a freak and I am one of the few who doesn't really have hundreds of people I would really call "friends". In reality allot of fall into the category of "acquaintances". Is this bad?

I travel a lot and so along the way I meet allot of people and now a days thanks to the Internet if you have a good conversation with someone for more then 30 min it seems they always want to give your there email address. I just don't understand that. In the last 5 years of travel I've only give out mine maybe 5 or 6 times. Reason being I really didn't think that person was one that I would really be getting in touch with often enough, usually do to the fact that I would most likely never see them again. Yet that same person a day or two later almost always finds me on what ever networking site I'm on.
The issue I have with that is really my own fault... since I see there face on there I feel compelled to keep in touch and see how there doing and I don't just mean on Birthdays, Holidays and the typically "how was your summer". Now I know that's my own fault so I'm working on that. But when do you admit that some one that was a "friend" is now more like an "acquaintance". Some of the people I would call my friends in reality aren't, we were for a time maybe as co workers, team members or ever room mates, but when project is done we go our separate ways and when what bonded us together (circumstances) are gone we live totally different lives in opposite ends of the country. At what point do they get bumped down the totem poll? And how come some do and some don't?

For a while I thought it was all a matter of communication but that's just not the case. I guess in the end I just need to realize that just because you were once friends (especially when it was do to circumstances more then anything else, class mates what not) dose not mean its my job to keep it going. They always use the example of a bridge well if that's the case I guess I need to not be afraid to let a few bridges close down. No need to force traffic accost anymore.

(to many years working as a caretaker and so now it manifest in "relationship maintenance"... if there ever were such a thing)

What do you think? Am I being unreasonable? Some times I think if I never joined that stupid site life would be so much easier for me