Just like in the TV show Sex and the City, female friendships tend to be uniquely close – women talk often and share a lot. But this level of intimacy can make the relationships susceptible to serious and even terminal breakdown.

As friendships increasingly take place through social media, Nastaran Tavakoli-Far looks at why new technology can be a mixed blessing for female friendship by exaggerating existing vulnerabilities yet enabling increased connectedness.

She also learns why it’s a particular problem for teenagers as well as how a mutual admiration of One Direction can be the bedrock of a good friendship.

(Photo: Three Female Friends. Credit: Shutterstock)