What she said. 
What’s the point of bragging how many people you’ve put on your “buddy” list? At best you should brag about how many you’re on.
Of course I don’t have any and am probably not on any…always been a bit of a loner, keeps to myself…betenoir, potential serial murderer of SDMB.
So those folks who thought that I had them on my buddy list were wrong. It’s just that I was stalking them.
That’s one of the two uses I’ve identified - the other being that if you want a response from a certain poster before anyone else jumps in, you’ve got a better chance if you’ve first checked that he or she’s floating around. And I’ve always felt that it’s that first response that’s so crucial in terms of establishing the ground on which the discussion’s going to be held, as well as its tenor and tone. The only other way you can be guaranteed to get that effect going for you is to use a, um, proxy, which of course isn’t allowed, and, of course, never done.
Hrm… 11. And all but two are real life friends. I’m a net loser 
I’ve only got 35, but most of my friends have more than a hundred. One has three hundred.
Up to 88 now. Might stop there - it’s the Chinese lucky number, meaning oodles of dosh. Never realised I had so many friends!
- You meet a lot of people in your classes!
… and then what?
?
Profit !
I seriously doubt I show up on anyone’s buddy list, but if I am, please take me off. I find it weird to pay attention to another’s online status, and absolutely nothing can be gained by paying attention to mine.
So Roger, how many of your buddies would qualify for the separate forum for stuff that’s just too lofty for the average doper?
Don’t ask, you wouldn’t understand.
I have 198 on my aim buddy list at the moment. I’ve had 170+ since the 1990’s. I remember in the early days of aol (~1995) they capped the buddy list at around 110, so when AIM came out (~1997?) I started using that. It seemed to fluctuate its max allowable buddies between 172 and about 210 for a few years but I’m pretty sure it’s hard-coded at 198 now, because I haven’t been able to add new buddies for quite a long time. If I absolutely have to have someone on my buddy list I have to search through every name and find the person I talk to the least and take them off. That doesn’t happen very often because I have everyone not on my buddy list blocked, so if I take someone off we can’t talk anymore.
Or were you talking about the SDMB buddy list? That’d be a big 0. Don’t see the point of the thing.
That is, in fact, what this thread is about. Thanks for playing!