# What does being a "friend" on SDMB entail? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 12, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482 "2012-10-12T02:52:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/21 "2012-10-13T22:23:25Z")
I see that Cecil has only 6 friends. I’m betting he must have had many more friend requests so I have to ask, apart from our own dear **Una** , of whom it’s quite needless to ask the question, what’s so special about: **Chez Guevara** **Fear Itself** **Antigen** **MadPansy64** **jali** Or did they just catch Cecil on a good day? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/22 "2012-10-14T06:27:14Z")
Yeah, right, like we’re going to tell you! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/23 "2012-10-14T06:53:03Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > … For example, I’m not friends with RNATB, but I can see he’s a gigantic manwhore with 12 friends, which then reduces my masculinity because I only have 9. I only have two friends, so what does that say about my masculinity? (No, you don’t need to answer, thank you very much.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/24 "2012-10-14T20:17:17Z")
No, m’am, I won’t. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/25 "2012-10-14T20:25:33Z")
Argument. That’s what this thread needs: a bitter argument. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/26 "2012-10-14T20:58:24Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I only have two friends, so what does that say about my masculinity? That your eyes are glued to the wall at urinals. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/27 "2012-10-14T21:03:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That your eyes are glued to the wall at urinals. Well, as long as I have a friend on each side – no, wait, that doesn’t sound right 😕 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/28 "2012-10-15T02:23:29Z")
I thought that you could send a mass Pm to all your “friends”? Useful for games. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/29 "2012-10-15T03:11:50Z")
> [@](#): > > That your eyes are glued to the wall at urinals. That sounds like it would be painful, as well as unhygienic. I hope that it’s at least a non-toxic water-based glue like Elmer’s, and not a cyanoacrylate? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/30 "2012-10-16T16:53:05Z")
[QUOTE=many] “Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.” [/QUOTE] .. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/31 "2012-10-17T06:09:48Z")
Being friends on this message board is a completely meaningless platitude. It offers no real benefit. It is, at best, a very convoluted user-wide “like” button, being friends with someone is akin to saying “I enjoy engaging with you in conversation, and like your posts.” I extended a friend request to the OP for similar reasons to RNATB, but then saw later that RNATB beat me to it. I’m still open to being friends with Senegoid, though, he has some really cool posts in math and comp sci threads. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/32 "2012-10-17T06:11:04Z")
That is, of course, ignoring the secret VIP lounge and read-only access to the mod forum that having 50 friends gets you. I think you’re also entered in a raffle for a year’s supply of Ovaltine, as well as being taken off the “goat and squid caretaker duty” list. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/33 "2012-10-17T06:25:10Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Being friends on this message board is a completely meaningless platitude. It offers no real benefit. It is, at best, a very convoluted user-wide “like” button, being friends with someone is akin to saying “I enjoy engaging with you in conversation, and like your posts.” I extended a friend request to the OP for similar reasons to RNATB, but then saw later that RNATB beat me to it. I’m still open to being friends with Senegoid, though, he has some really cool posts in math and comp sci threads. Okay, I just accepted. But now I ask, just as I asked up-thread: Now what happens? Are we now to be mystically drawn together at the next _pon farr?_ Never mind the Ovaltine. [sub]Oh, wait. Is it chocolatey?[/sub] At least with RNATB, I get [cinnamon pine cones](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15543664#post15543664). (Ah, but I see you missed that thread. See posts #91, 94, 95, 96.) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/34 "2012-10-17T06:37:37Z")
You get to be part of the Miskatonic University Arkham Investigation Team. Wait… is that a benefit or a curse? I keep forgetting. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/35 "2012-10-17T13:04:02Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Never mind the Ovaltine. [sub]Oh, wait. Is it chocolatey?[/sub] At least with RNATB, I get [cinnamon pine cones](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15543664#post15543664). (Ah, but I see you missed that thread. See posts #91, 94, 95, 96.) Oof. I’m never going to live that one down, am I? :o ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/36 "2012-10-17T13:21:48Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > The only friend request I ever got turned out to be a spammer getting ready to do his thing. I accepted, then reported to a mod that it was suspicious, next thing I know, he’s banned before even making one post. I see I’m the only one who accepted. I wonder if anyone else reported him without accepting. He wasn’t really a spammer, the mods just don’t want you to have any friends. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/37 "2012-10-17T17:51:21Z")
:eek:☹ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/38 "2012-10-17T18:52:13Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > The only friend request I ever got turned out to be a spammer getting ready to do his thing. I accepted, then reported to a mod that it was suspicious, next thing I know, he’s banned before even making one post. I see I’m the only one who accepted. I wonder if anyone else reported him without accepting. So what does a spammer get out of being somebody’s friend? Does spammer get to see friend’s private e-mail address or something? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/39 "2012-10-17T21:36:41Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > So what does a spammer get out of being somebody’s friend? I don’t know. I just checked, and **Marley** was the mod I PMed, and who presumably banned :(my only friend:), so maybe _he_ knows. He didn’t let the spammer live long enough to even PM me, so I can’t say. But as **Darth Panda** points out, the mods don’t _want_ me to have any friends, so I have no idea what :(my only friend:) would have done. He might have convinced me to buy whatever he was selling. Or maybe he would have given me a toy to play with, like my _cats_ have always played with the lesser creatures (like me) that they encounter. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482/40 "2012-10-18T00:48:51Z")
Even spammers need the warmth only human companionship can offer. NOT! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-being-a-friend-on-sdmb-entail/637482.md?page=3)