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

GYATagain

Have gone both routes. In the very beginning (Jan 2013) I had no friends and just got on with life by me, myself, and I. Lost 70#. Fast forward another year and I was struggling to maintain -left MFP - came back and thought, hey I'll try it differently this time. Requested/Accepted friends that seemed in a similar place - fast forward from that. It got WEIRD!! Only in that, there were some that got the angry posts going if they felt people (me) were not supportive enough by constantly - and I mean constantly - replying to their 1 million posts and everyday dairy entries that were exactly the same day after day. Anything fun and exciting, questions, real struggles - let's chat about it. Other than that it started driving me crazy all the constant hitting my phone with updates, news, whine, whine, whine. Now, I love a good wine - just not whine! Life threw some serious curve balls and I left MFP again - too many different pressures for this old brain. Now, I'm back just working on the maintaining and have just a couple of like minded friends that I get a kick out of..... Short of this long story - it really depends on your motivation and what you are looking to gain (or lose) from MFP.

pedermj2002

For me, I have a habit of obsessing about things, to the point of annoying my friends and family about it. When I was ready to start here, I was already turning annoying about my biking. Add in the newly discovered simplicity of "count those calories already!", and I was ready to become somebody who talked about nothing else.

With friends here, I can talk about those topics. I can brag about my progress. I can ask for their feedback on something I'm doing. And all of this is well received, since they're all doing the same things. All of us are obsessing about it, and it's all good.

That's why I have them, and why I'm always willing to add more. I need that outlet, and maybe I can help somebody else be successful by being that outlet for them.

mom22dogs

I have a question - everyone keeps talking about your "feed" or "wall" that you can see people's updates, likes and comments. Where is this? I've never seen it. I guess I just come to the website and click on community and never noticed anything in the menu bar that said anything about a wall or feed.

joaniebalonie088

I'm pretty self-motivated so don't need anyone to motivate me. But having friends helps me feel less frustrated with the roller-coaster nature of weight loss.

It helps me feel better when I see others go through what I'm going through. I'll see someone post, "I'm doing everything right and I GAINED 2 pounds!" And it is nice to know I am not the only one

slomo22

Momma says people on the internet want to kidnap me

Cylphin60

I'm an old fashioned social media hater. That bit out of the way, I'm hooked up with quite a few here that are just good, solid people. We chat, banter and encourage back and forth and always offer support with our common goals.

Doesn't mean I'm going to open a FB account or any of that lol, but the folks I "met" here - good peeps

jdscrubs32

Each to their own but I like having friends who have similar interests to me, be it lifting and running, so that I can learn from them and them from me regarding bulking & maintaining. However I like having a small group of friends, normally below 50 who interact and use this site for what it is meant to be, health and fitness, not for hooking up. There are plenty of dating sites for that.

There is nothing worse than ghost friends. I dont see the point in becoming friends with someone if you or they arent going to interact with them and if you dont interact with any of your "friends" on this, there really isnt any point in accepting friend requests unless you simply want to have numbers.

bjdavidson964

I think it's like any other form of social media...some 'friends' will be supportive, some just want to get their own number of friends up. And...people come and go from myfitnesspal. I drifted away for almost a year, but of course, I'm back now that the weight is creeping back. Recently participated in a Zumbathon for 2 hrs and posted 1000+ calories burned...didn't get any comments from 'friends' ... not even a 'like'...lol. I also believe that some people have so many friends, that they only comment on, or 'like' the big things like weight loss entries. Otherwise it would be impossible. I purposely kept my friend limit to a manageable number that I thought I would be able to truly support. That number will be different for each person. In the end though...remember you're doing it for YOU!

JeromeBarry1

It's the whole metaphysical conundrum of being an island or not.

AnnPT77

As a generality, human beings are wired to respond to social norms. Through thousands of years of human history, fitting in with your group (tribe) was a major, major factor in whether your life was as happy/successful as it could be, or not. That's why 90% of us tend to listen to the same popuar music, wear basically the same clothes, eat the same fast foods, and consider ourselves totally unique.

In our daily life, many of us as fat people are surrounded by other fat people. We see a norm of over-eating, hear people make jokes and talk about the impossibility of losing weight, are served up c**p on TV/blogs/written matter that is unhelpful in various ways, etc.

The social side of MFP - forums, friends, blogs, newsletters - is a counterbalance. It gives us a peer group where getting healthier is a common value, and can give us a different norm to move toward.

Of course, every individual is different, and has different needs. The above is just a broad generalization. But having MFP as a virtual peer group did help me, I think, stay on track when many times it would've been easier and pleasanter to stop thinking about this weight-loss/health-improvement stuff.

Also, other people's diets are boring to regular folks who :"just eat". MFP gave me a place to talk about it, get support/feedback, and spare my real life friends the tedium.

ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken

mom22dogs wrote: »

I have a question - everyone keeps talking about your "feed" or "wall" that you can see people's updates, likes and comments. Where is this? I've never seen it. I guess I just come to the website and click on community and never noticed anything in the menu bar that said anything about a wall or feed.

There should be a "My Home" option somewhere. It should be up to on the navigation bar that you found the "community" option. Mine has, My home, food, exercise, reports, apps, community, blog and shop. Go to that and, select "my home" and you will see this feed. If you have friends their updates will be there.

ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken

I am going to add, they don'tr call the site, "My Fitness Solo" it's "My fitness PAL". Your fitness pals are here!

Lounmoun

mom22dogs wrote: »

I have a question - everyone keeps talking about your "feed" or "wall" that you can see people's updates, likes and comments. Where is this? I've never seen it. I guess I just come to the website and click on community and never noticed anything in the menu bar that said anything about a wall or feed.

On the web site it says my home, food, exercise, reports, apps, coomunity across the top. Go to "my home" and scroll down to see the newsfeed.

Tacklewasher

Still not convinced. I'll keep going the way I have been.

everher

Tacklewasher wrote: »

Still not convinced. I'll keep going the way I have been.

I think I'm joining the dark side with you.

Loved having the friends at first, but now I'm just kind of like "meh, too much social interaction."

I'll stick to randomly popping up on the forums.

snowflake954

I've been here 4 yrs, and in cruising the boards I've seen people posting that I admire. Many of them are intelligent and know their stuff. When they asked me to be friends, I was frankly honored. I don't say no to people when they ask and sometimes I don't know who they are. I check in and see what people are doing. Some are consistent and awesome exercisers. I just personally like them.

Unknown

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JennyRATL

And it's kinda odd. I don't think the people I'm friends with here actually post on the forums....?

Afura

Encouragement from people who understand what challenges you have and are supportive. I can't talk about having serious cravings to my coworkers (a bunch of guys who like sports), but I can to my MFP friends.

mom22dogs

Lounmoun wrote: »

mom22dogs wrote: »

I have a question - everyone keeps talking about your "feed" or "wall" that you can see people's updates, likes and comments. Where is this? I've never seen it. I guess I just come to the website and click on community and never noticed anything in the menu bar that said anything about a wall or feed.

On the web site it says my home, food, exercise, reports, apps, coomunity across the top. Go to "my home" and scroll down to see the newsfeed.

Oh, I guess I've never scrolled down on that page. I just look at the calories and never paid attention that there was more on the page below it.

tinkerbellang83

JennyRATL wrote: »

And it's kinda odd. I don't think the people I'm friends with here actually post on the forums....?

I had MFP since 2012 and only used the forums for the first time this year.

fatboy_rob

Support and motivation in the main. I have a few friends that have the same step recorder and it's really useful if you're having a lazy day.

dead1te

Lady_Spartan15 wrote: »

Fun, support, encouragement, motivation, inspiration, accountability...

this, for me the social aspect of MFP is part and parcel, im chatting to like minded people with the same goal as me - self improvement, but some people prefer to go it alone, its all good, different strokes for different folks :-) - what matters is *IF* you want the social aspect, its always there for people.