Friendship is real, but most of us have forgotten what it is really about. Depending on your school of thought, you could say that this is by design that modern people are so far separated from friendship and familial ties, because we are easy to control when divided. But that's another discussion.
A friend is someone dependable, where your interaction and time together produces a benefit greater than the sum of it's parts. I have noticed that I find friendship at work far more easily than outside of it, and our friendships there are stronger than elsewhere. I finally figured out why: I work in emergency services, and as such we grow close as partners and colleagues, for without each other we are guaranteed to fail immediately.
The same principle fell in to place at my last job in forestry. We relied on each other, and so we developed as friends. We saw the benefits by accident, and instinctively built upon them.
In older times, and still in some parts of the world, families would live in extended communities, with multiple generations in the same house or on the same city block. Communities played off of each other for strength. They were all stronger because of it, and difficult to topple in their bonds.
Now we are told that the best thing is to be an individual, to have all of our own things. And to a degree, yes, we must be individuals, and strong on our own...but it has been taken beyond being individuals, and we are now ushered toward a time of division and defeat, choking on apathy. We tell ourselves that this is 'just how the world is', and so we sleep at night and accept it.