What is Friend Poaching?

Have you ever introduced two groups of friends and then they started hanging out without you? That’s called friend poaching and it can be extremely hurtful! In a surprising turn of events, Mary reveals that she is often the friend poacher in these situations, while Sienna often finds her friends are the ones being poached.

Separating Friendship Circles

Sometimes friend circles develop alongside one another, and in other cases they may be purposefully separated. Mary and Sienna discuss some of the reasons why it might be a good idea to keep friends separate, or whether it’s unfair to prevent friend groups from intermingling.

How to Handle Friend Poaching

It can be extremely hurtful to realize that one friend is poaching another friend, but there are a number of steps that can be taken to help salvage the friendship or, at the very least, ease the transition.

What to Do if You’re the One Friend Poaching

Sometimes you may find that you’re “clicking” more with a friend of a friend, which more often than not puts you in a precarious situation of making the transition from one friend to another. Mary and Sienna share some tips and advice for handling friend poaching gracefully and with as minimal drama as possible!

Research

For more information on friend poaching, check out these articles:

• So Your Best Friend Stole Your Other Best Friend, Huh? by Korin Miller for Glamour.
• Is Friend Poaching Ethical? via Paired Life.
• The Difference Between ‘Friend-Sharing’ and ‘Friend-Poaching’ by Brittany Kennedy for Thought Catalog.

Tune in next week for Episode 9: Staying Connected

Do you have a story about friendship? Good, bad, or ugly — we wanna hear it! Click here to learn more about submitting your story and you might just hear it in a future episode or featured on the blog!

Hosted by Mary Akemon and Sienna Mooney
Produced by Alex Papworth
Music by Max Wallace
Episode illustration by Maddy Vian