Social media is great at making people feel as though they’re alone in the world, but the truth is, not having a ton of friends is normal and healthy.

You're probably rolling your eyes at this point when you hear the term FOMO (fear of missing out), but bear with me because it turns out that FOMO isn't about fear of missing information. It's about feeling anxious that you're missing out on bonding time with your social group. Here's what to do about that anxiety.

Sure, needy people can be annoying (and I say this as a very needy person). However, our feelings about a person who is vocal about his or her needs is often a reflection of how we feel about our own needs. Like most human behaviour, it's complicated. The School of Life breaks it down.

Making new friends as an adult is hard. However, you might have more options than you think. If you know some people you haven't talked to in a while, call them up again to make new friends.

Travelling alone has its perks: You get to do what you want, when you want; discover new and honest things about the world and yourself; and enjoy an uplifting, mindful travelling experience without someone else's influences. But after a while, talking to yourself and eating another meal without being able to share funny thoughts and observations about the day with an another human get... awfully lonesome.

Half an hour had passed and I sat in my car, waiting for my habitually tardy friend to arrive so I could help her move. Resentment and anger started to build. But when she texted, "So sorry, be there soon," I replied, "No worries! Take your time :) " I'd had it. I was really sick of this being nice shit.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but when it's so much easier to duck confrontation and send an email or a text begging for help or a much-needed favour, you're far better doing it in person, face-to-face, says researchers from Cornell and the University of Waterloo. That awkwardness actually improves your chances.

If you don't like bothering people with favours, there may be a part of you that's afraid they will be annoyed with you. If that's the case, go ahead and ask, because personal favours actually make you more likable.

If you want to build trust or just practice being more charismatic, it helps to ask questions. Questions show the other person you're listening and interested. However, if you really want to get to know someone, you have to ask questions that actually matter.

There are a lot of advantages to knowing your neighbours: They can feed pets when you're away, you can lend things to each other and you have someone you can turn to in an emergency. But you need to get to know them first, and a compliment is a great ice breaker.

We all know that making new friends after university is incredibly tough, but The Wall Street Journal points out that we tend to make it harder on ourselves by thinking that it's a bad thing to want to make more friends in the first place.

Years ago, a friend told me about some self-help book she read. It sounded like a load of crap, but I didn't have the heart to say that. Instead, I acted interested and told her it was great. So she kept talking about it and urging me to read it until I confessed it just wasn't my thing. "You seemed so interested in it, though," she said. Yep, that was just me being a complete phoney.

No matter how well you know someone, travelling together will probably teach you something new about them. Maybe they get up early and have tons of energy. Maybe they're a terrible tipper. Sometimes these things are annoyances, and sometimes they can lead to a big falling out. It doesn't have to be that way, though. With some planning, you can make sure your travel adventure is a successful one.

A funny thing happens when you show someone you trust them: they begin to let their guard down. If you want someone to trust you more, do your best to show them how much trust you have in them.

Happiness is contagious and friendship is magic: That's the lesson from a 20-year multi-generational study, which concludes that people's happiness depends on the happiness of those we're connected with.

We like to think our friendships are strong enough to handle something as silly as financial differences. But the truth is, money can make things awkward, especially when one of you earns significantly less (or more) than the other. Here's how to handle the most common issues that can arise.