Growing up, we were constantly bombarded with the same sort of friendship imagery – a group of between 4 to 6 people, with either equal parts male and female members, or just entirely all boys or all girls. They made it look SO easy and natural on our favourite TV shows like Friends, Entourage and Sex and the City, but there’s more to the friendship game than these played-out clichés.
In reality, you can’t always label who’s the Samantha, Carrie, Johnny Drama, or Turtle of your group, and that’s OK. Screw the conformity, and embrace these different squad formations that are often totally more relatable and realistic:
The Everybody Squad
We know that Drake said he’s not into new friends, but clearly he was full of it. The ‘everybody squad’ is something that we can totally get behind, and Drake and Ellen DeGeneres are two of our favourite examples of how awesome this kind of squad can be.
Having an ‘everybody squad’ means that pretty much everyone loves you, and you can and will hang out with a bunch of different people at different times. You get along with most people, and you have different friends that will serve different purposes in your life. This is our ultimate #friendshipgoals.
The Fam Squad
You can’t pick your family (and sometimes we really wish that we could), but what happens when you all really get along? Can things get any more ideal than this? Love them or hate them, the Kardashians have shown us how nice it is to be close with (most of) your siblings.
The ‘fam squad’ is an automatic squad that doesn’t take any curating, and you have guaranteed quality time scheduled at all of your family events and holidays. Plus, you’re kinda stuck with them forever, so it’s a friendship that’ll last you a lifetime. It’s totally ingenious, and it makes us wanna text our cousins and make some plans.
The Boo Squad
Don’t get us wrong, celeb couples have been giving us relationship goals for decades, but the behind-the-scenes celeb perspective we’ve seen in the past few years on social media has shown us how chill it can be to just hang out with your BF/GF.
You can’t help but sigh when you come across an Instagram photo of Bey and Jay, or Chrissy Teigen and John Legend just enjoying their couple time, and we can’t help but want it for ourselves. Boo Squads spend A LOT of quality time together, and if you’re dating someone who’s like your best friend as well, what’s wrong with that?
The Work Squad
Are we the only ones who find it really hard to make new friends once you become a working adult? You spend more time with your co-workers than you do with your friends and family, so you might as well make the most of your time together and play nice.
Not only does being buds with your work mates make for a happier work environment, it also makes it easy to organize after-work drinks and plan fun lunch outings. We can’t all work on movie/ TV sets with awesome people ala Mindy Kaling, but we can always make the most of our co-workers, regardless of our workplace.
The BFF Squad
Having a bunch of friends that you’re equally tight with is great, but it’s not always realistic. Chances are you’ve got a Number One – one person that you’re closer with than you are with anyone else – and you may even have different besties in your work, school, or social circles.
A Ben to your Matt, a Tina to your Amy; when all else fails, you’re the two that are holding down the fort, and each other’s company is all you really need. A squad is a squad, and you don’t necessarily need a whole bunch of people. Plus, selfies are easier to take with just two.
The International Squad
Sometimes people move away, and that sucks, and sometimes you travel and meet amazing people who you wish you could take home with you when you leave. Well, thanks to the internet, FaceTime and sweet programs like WhatsApp, friendships don’t have to disintegrate with distance. Having far-away friends is awesome, and they give us an excuse to travel as well so you know, bonus.
You better believe that we’re gonna be coming to crash on their couch, or planning a trip to meet up somewhere in the middle. Plus, there’s nothing better than exchanging little packages of foreign goodies via mail, or going old school with real letters via pen pal.