Okay, forgive me if this question has been answered. But when you put someone on your “buddy” list, what happens? Do they know they’re on your buddy list? Can they tell you they don’t want to be on your buddy list? Is this helpful in tracking certain posters?
And, ditto for the “ignore” list. Does the offending person learn s/he’s being ignored by X number of people?
I don’t know anything about the buddy list because I don’t use it but the ignore function is private. The ignoree doesn’t know that they are being ignored.
I’d have to take the word of the folks in charge, and Primaflora, as far as the “ignore” function’s privacy goes. I’ve never had the imagined need to put anyone on an “ignore” list – they’ve never been that annoying.
As for the “buddy” list – I’d say that was much the same. I don’t need to use that, either.
Interesting point I’ve been saving up for a while:
Find one of your old posts, and click “buddy” . Notice how you can’t become your own buddy?
I gather the “ignore” function is disabled, but the “buddy” function still seems to be available. So … what is it used for, exactly?
If I clicked on “buddy” in Rabid_Squirrel’s post above, would it send off a priority SOS email to him, stating that Shrinking Violet has no friends, and PLEASE GO TO HER ASSISTANCE? 
Julie
The “buddy list” as I understand, allows you to see which of your “buddies” are online when you are. If private messaging was enabled (which it isn’t) you could use the list to communicate that way.
I have used the buddy list in the past.
For those who are curious as to what it’s used for, I used it to check if any of my friends were online. Haven’t used it in ages, though.
The ignore list is similar. The person doesn’t know they’re on your ignore list, or your buddy list. Put someone in this thread on ignore, then refresh the thread and read it again to see what happens.
No, you can still manually enter it from your CP.