I haven't added many people, mostly because I'm too shy, but I only tend to add those I've had wall-to-wall conversations with. Not sure if there are any unspoken rules, though.
So I can go to a person's wall and say "Hey I like your avatar, where is it from?" and not come off as creepy? I have no idea--I never got involved in any sort of forum like this before.
I think so, I'm not too good at these things myself, but to me, that seems like a perfectly valid conversation starter
I've gotten friend requests from people who I haven't had a conversation with yet. I don't really think anything of it honestly. There are just friendly people here on EC and I'm willing to accept that lol. Going to someone's wall and complementing their avatar isn't creepy.
I've never heard of people rejecting the requests of others because they don't feel they know that person enough. Most would assume that friend requests from people that they haven't spoken to are a result of that person enjoying what they write on the forums. I probably haven't spoken to at least half of the people on my friends list honestly. And randomly commenting on someone's wall that you recognize/appreciate their avatar or enjoyed hearing their input in a recent thread is extremely common.
All the people I've friended on here so far were totally random. I'm as outgoing as humanly possible online and will chat with anyone I did friend a couple people who declined :-( maybe they're just shy though
There isn't really any rules, I'd say, at least official ones. If you want to send a Friend Request, do so. If somebody sends you one, and you want to accept it, do so. Common sense, really. Though do keep in mind, some folks take it seriously, like it's a reflection of their self-worth or likability. And then some treat it like social media, where they're more about the appearance of being popular. As for commenting on Walls randomly, it should be fine. In fact, random messages can often times pick up moods. It's something I tend to do.
Only if you include those specifications in your settings. For instance, you could make albums hidden to the public.
Additionally, it also might be a necessity for you to add and be accepted as a friend before you could even contact the member on their wall (or via PM if you're both full members), so a general etiquette to speak to somebody before 'friending' them isn't always a viable approach to take. As for rules, I would say anything outlined in the Code of Conduct (CoC), along with common sense, will go far. There aren't really many ways you can 'mess up' when it comes to just adding people as a friend, so it really does just depend on the individual you're adding. However, from a staff perspective, the main thing we'll watch out for when people use the feature is that they aren't using it as some sort of creepy 'lust' list, in which they're only adding people they find 'hot' who they can flirt with. As that itself is a violation of the CoC, it gets dealt with. Just as long as people think with their head and not their hormones, you really can't go wrong with the friend feature.
