the puzzle that is friending on lj
I'm not sure I've quite gotten my head around friending here on livejournal. I know it's not like fb: I can friend someone without them necessarily friending me back. And I think what happens if I friend someone is this: I can get a feed of their public comments on my friends page and they can see all my comments (public and friends). But for me to see "friends" comments (not just public comments), other people need to friend me back, yes?
All that, I get. But what I can't quite figure out is the etiquette of all this. Is it rude to friend someone just because I want to get a stream of their updates on my friends page? (Won't they get a stream from me? Or can they filter that out if they want?) And, more importantly, can a person like me--a lurker by nature--just up and ask someone to friend them? Is it an awkward turtle moment if they want to say no? Or do you friend someone and just hope that they'll friend you in return without asking point blank?
Ohhh, the mysteries of the fandom. :)
The good news is that everyone seems very nice. I'm sure if I put my foot in it, someone will patiently explain it all to me so I can get it right the next time.
Any visitors? I'd love it if you use the comments to let a newbie know what to do--and what not to do.