What is the "point" of adding friends on MFP?

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Geocitiesuser
Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
in Getting Started
Honest question, what does adding friends do? I see a lot of people asking for friends on the forum, and I have received a few requests, but I deny them. What actually happens?

(follow up question, are there any other apps that will import our data for advanced graphing/charting?)
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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Activity and posts from your "friends" show up in your news feed.

    Some people like the community aspect of this feature, others are indifferent to it.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited February 2017
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    See http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10483729/question-about-friends

    I'm the same. I just stopped bothering to decline them.

    On the pulling data, read this thread http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10487609/can-you-pull-monthly-data-out-of-mfp

    Or one I could never get to work
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Speaking as a fellow data geek, I think you might want to check this out:

    MFP Data Export Tool - The Overview

    It includes a link to a thread where the tool's discussed at length.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    Since I don't talk about my weight loss goals much IRL, having friends here gives me a venue to share my successes and struggles with people who are going through roughly the same thing. I really like the news feed feature you get with friends' status updates, posts, diaries, etc., in addition to the forum feature :smile: But as with anything else, your mileage may vary!
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    I usually don't send invites to others but accept any requests that come to me. Friends make MFP more interesting. I often reply to many questions for the fun of it. I also rarely check to see if I helped or offended, not sure why, I guess I would need to search for them. I have several apps that sync to MFP like Runtastic, fitbit and my scale but have never needed to export from MFP so I can't help with that.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    I agree with wolfman, it was beneficial early on, not so much now. Some people like the social media like aspect of it.
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
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    I really never saw the point either. I think I accepted a few friends in the beginning, but I've never seen anything or where you are supposed to interact with them anyway. It's really not motivating to me to have friends here.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    laceyslabaugh wrote: »
    When you friend someone, they can see your diary and you can "post" on your wall and they can see that and comment. It just gives some accountability and people to ask questions to and help celebrate with you and to pick you up when you 'fall'. I just started adding friends when requested and I love that they support me and encourage me everyday!

    This is only true if you have your diary set to only be viewed by friends. If you have it set to public, anybody can see it whether or not they're your friend, and if you have it set to completely private, or viewable only with a key, even your friends can't see it (unless you give them the key).

    As some others have said, everyone is different. I'm accountable to myself; I can't imagine feeling accountable to "friends" on a social media platform. I've added friends when I got requests if they included a message, or occasionally when they didn't include a message if I remembered having a conversation with them on the boards. It's nice to occasionally get a little booster comment, and it's nice to see other people's progress and offer them support, but most days I don't even look at my news feed, so it really doesn't affect me one way or the other.

    I'm happy to respond to questions from friends, but I hardly ever get any.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    When you/they complete your diary, add exercise, log your weight, add a blog post, etc it can show up on your/their newsfeed if you select that in your settings. You/they can see posts to your/their newsfeed/wall.
    The point is support, inspiration, communication with others you decide to be friends with here. It is not required.

    I found it inspiring when I was starting out but less as I went along.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited February 2017
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    I don't send out friend requests, but i accept most of them (from women) because i feel guilty and rude if i don't! I decline requests from guys.

    I keep my diary public so people dont have to friend me to see it. I sometimes read the top few posts on my newsfeed, but other than that i dont interact, that's what i use the forum for.

    I've even written in my profile here that I'm a lousy mfp friend, so anyone who sends me a request is forwarned.

    The friend request thing/ friend collectors reminds me of Fackebook, which i ditched years ago.
  • traskin5918
    traskin5918 Posts: 14 Member
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    I started on this site a few months ago and added some friends. Reading about their own challenges and feeling a sense of camaraderie when you're facing a menacing hell of new disciplines was quite important for me, at least. It was also important for me to find a friend who shares mental issues, reading about hers and the ways she copes was terribly encouraging ; I don't discuss these things in 'real' life with anyone, so yeah, the friendship, as electronic as it is, has been a blessing. I constantly feel a part of a collective effort. I've lost 61 pounds in a little over 3 months. In addition to my own self-discipline, switch to healthy foods, counting calories and exercising like a mad hatter, I have also a crazy cat lady (her own description), a young woman trying desperately to avoid cake, a bearded fireman who also has psychological challenges and a few others to thank.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    edited February 2017
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    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    Honest question, what does adding friends do?

    seems like it's been answered by now, but on the social front . . . i guess 'what happens' depends on the kind of person you are and the kinds of people you accept as your friends. personally, i really don't grok the thing of getting rah-rah-rah'd by total strangers. tell the truth it just made me kind of paranoid, when i'd log in and find a whole string of people clapping handsies for me along the roadside like it was something remarkable. i get that a lot of people do find that really motivating, but it demoralized me.

    but i'm not especially gregarious to begin with, so ymmv. i like the friends i do have though. they're goofballs, or they're introspective, or they just talk just enough about what's going on in their lives to be interesting, without making me feel like i'm getting an overdose of the overshare thing. and i picked most of them up via actual forum/group interaction, so we actually have common cause together.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    canadianlbs wrote: »
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    Honest question, what does adding friends do?

    seems like it's been answered by now, but on the social front . . . i guess 'what happens' depends on the kind of person you are and the kinds of people you accept as your friends. personally, i really don't grok the thing of getting rah-rah-rah'd by total strangers. tell the truth it just made me kind of paranoid, when i'd log in and find a whole string of people clapping handsies for me along the roadside like it was something remarkable. i get that a lot of people do find that really motivating, but it demoralized me.

    but i'm not especially gregarious to begin with, so ymmv. i like the friends i do have though. they're goofballs, or they're introspective, or they just talk just enough about what's going on in their lives to be interesting, without making me feel like i'm getting an overdose of the overshare thing. and i picked most of them up via actual forum/group interaction, so we actually have common cause together.

    I can totally relate to this. I ended up turning off the option to post "weight loss", "days logged" etc etc on my newsfeed, and I never close my diary, because i hate the attention it directed toward me, if that make sense? Simply, i was embarrassed by the the rah rah rah's, even though they were all being nice and supportive, I just don't like the spotlight on me.

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