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What is the point of friends?

by Martin Avis
12 replies
I don't mean friends in real lfe - I don't think we can ever have too many friends in our lives.

I'm referring to 'friends' on this and other forums.

Every so often I get a notification that someone has requested I be their friend. Nine times out of ten they are people with usernames I don't recognize.

None of the friend requests ever come with an explanation of why the person wants to be linked with me in that way, or what the purpose is.

I have accepted a few, but as far as I can see it gives neither of us any advantage.

So what is the purpose? What am I missing?

Martin
#friends #point
  • Profile picture of the author winebuddy
    I've been wondering the same thing. As far as I can see, there is no way to message all of your "friends" or anything else. So I have the same question...
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  • Profile picture of the author erwindegrave
    If you gain friends in forums.. that would be a great help for your promotions.. What I mean about friends is the one you really interact with and share experiences, not just merely adding people to your list.

    Once you had real friends in forums, it will be easier for you to conduct business and make partners.. :-)
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    Erwin de Grave
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  • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
    Damnit Martin, I was going to tell you
    that having friends like Paul Myers
    and Kevin Riley means you never have
    to look far for someone from whom to
    "extract the urine". ;-)

    I don't have an answer to your question
    other than to point out that many of
    those folks who want to be your "friends"
    are probably looking to "borrow" your
    forum credibility to enhance their own
    reputation on the forum.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
      I don't have an answer to your question
      other than to point out that many of
      those folks who want to be your "friends"
      are probably looking to "borrow" your
      forum credibility to enhance their own
      reputation on the forum.
      I am inclined to agree with the above, and also feel the same way as the original poster in this thread. It seems to me that accumulating "friends" is much more helpful to the beginner who doesn't have a following than to the person who already has a reputation and a following.

      The exception is on Twitter, where many people deliver actual valuable content to their "friends" and "followers."

      And one more observation. It seems to me that those who feel hesitant to add "friends" that they do not know are almost always introverts who in real life cherish a few close friends, as opposed to extroverts who in real life enjoy having as many friends as possible.

      Marcia Yudkin
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    The only advantage I could find in having "official" forum friends is that you can give them certain privileges. For example, if you create a blog, you can let your friends add comments without moderation, while all others' comments will need to be approved.
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  • Profile picture of the author AndyBlackSEO
    I get the odd friend requests come through. I tend to just add them as and when so it doesn't keep showing in my notifications. Most of them I don't recognise either.

    I've never requested one myself. I think you can build relationships and rapport just by participating in the threads.
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    A couple requested 'friend' status with me. I also just accept them even though I have no idea who they are. I have never requested friend status of anyone else.

    I have found in the 3D world, 'real friends' are rare. I have many that think they are my friend, maybe they just don't know what it means to be a friend. After my accident and subsequent firing (due to being in constant pain and not performing quite up to par, though so far I was doing a better job than anyone they hired since, & they had to hire 2 people when they fired me to get the job done at all!), I got only a few phone calls.

    Most of the time, when I get a call from a 'friend' they are looking to see if I can do something for them. Lol. I have a few that are real friends, but again, real ones are rare in my view. (Or I might just be hard to get along with!) LOL!
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  • Profile picture of the author greenovni
    I've been wondering about real life friends... I think it is time for me to shed them off since all I hear from them is negativism.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gene Pimentel
    It's just a form of social proof. When someone browses their profile and sees a list of recognizable 'friends', it strengthens the perception that they are an accepted member of the community. In reality it's meaningless.
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  • Profile picture of the author AndyBlackSEO
    Think I'll develop a virtual coffee room / pub, where me and my online buddies can have a drink.. shoot some virtual pool and tell some jokes. Then at least I'd know who they are. Anyone for some virtual pool? .. and some electronic coffee?
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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      When the feature was first available, I "invited" a few people to be my friend. Generally it was because I liked what they had to share and how they handled themselves or Warriors that I had one on one dealings with.

      But as has been pointed out, there's not a lot of tangible value in the friend feature here. So now I usually just hit the "Thanks" button.

      P.S.
      Martin, how many friend request have you had since starting this thread?
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      "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
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