# Somebody wants to be my friend! **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 5, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314 "2010-08-05T19:29:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/21 "2010-08-06T14:03:50Z")
Yea, I’m guessing spambot. It probably “lurks” for a year, then sends a bunch of friend requests out before trying to sell stuff to seem more legit to casual inspection. Or maybe I’m just jealous he hasn’t tried to randomly befriend me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/22 "2010-08-06T14:34:35Z")
I’ve never heard of a bot that does that. It’s kind of involved. A human spammer might try something like that, but so far there’s been no spam. These guys usually don’t lay low for very long because the longer they wait, the more likely it is they’ll be banned before they get to do their job. So far this guy looks like he’s okay. Please let us know if you get any spam from him or anyone else by private message. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/23 "2010-08-06T14:38:49Z")
I’ll be your friend. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/24 "2010-08-06T16:29:41Z")
He probably wants to sell you some v1agra ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/25 "2010-08-06T16:38:48Z")
Seems real enough, if you google his username. Usually if it’s a spammer, all the spam sites show up first, having logged his name or email. In this case it looks like a real person. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/26 "2010-08-06T16:46:45Z")
Man, if this guy just has an innocent doper crush, and he’s a shy lurker, I feel really bad for him right now. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/27 "2010-08-07T04:18:12Z")
All he has to do is pop in and say hi. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/28 "2010-08-07T04:50:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > All he has to do is pop in and say hi. That might be a bit traumatic for a robot. Y’know, Turing Test and all. > [@ianzin](#): > > The situation is getting a bit stranger. I have twice declined the ‘friend’ offer, and P S guy apparently just re-sends or re-submits the request. Just in the interest of science, how about accepting and see what happens? ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/29 "2010-08-07T22:11:56Z")
What is a “friend” on here anyways? I had a friend request from someone, but since I’ve thought her posts were pretty cool and funny, and we’ve traded emails a couple times off-board, I figured she qualified as a “friend”. But, the only advantage I’ve seen is that her name just sits there whenever I open my profile, that’s it. So what is the reason for that feature? ---
**Author:** ![Ace\_Weederman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@Ace\_Weederman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace_Weederman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314/30 "2010-08-08T21:26:38Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > Could someone explain the logic of bothering to get a username if you aren’t going to post? Is there some feature you get besides posting that might be worth it? > > You can look at profiles, like some kind of peeping tom, also, I think you need to be logged into search. Plus on vb boards with attachments you need to be a member to download attachments. > > If nothing else being logged in helps track of which threads you’ve read better. Also, you have access to thread display options like showing more posts per page and choosing not to show signatures – not to mention you get to use the ignore list if you’d like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-wants-to-be-my-friend/549314.md?page=1)