To me there is a giant gulf between the "cultivate the friendship thoughtfully always" group and the "I know you are there for me even if lots of time passes" styles. A gulf as big as Ask Versus Guess.

I feel like this can also change depending on length of friendship and physical proximity - like, I have a couple friends from childhood who moved out of the area and we very rarely talk, but we'll get together every year or so when they're in town visiting their parents. Then there are the local friendships where if we don't see each other once a month, it's like "...are we still friends?"