MFP Friends... how do you decide who they will be?

I have it written in bold letters on the front of my profile that if you don't send a message with your request that it will be denied. I want friends who are going to support me and that want my support.

I send out friend requests based on replies I see in the forums. If I see someone with similar goals, or maybe they have reached their goal and I want their tips/support/etc. :bigsmile:

I see if someone has similar goals and interest. I also like if they have kids like myself. I also like humor and to make light of things and not take things so serious.

I accept anyone who asks and then delete (only once or twice maybe) if they start to really get on my nerves. Like excessive, long posts that I can't relate to. I friend people based on humor, politics, similar struggles, similar goals, similar age/weight, proximity to me, intelligence and people that just seem interesting. Sometimes I send a message with the request and sometimes I don't. I love getting messages with requests but the lack of one doesn't make me deny.

I add people who I think have similar SW and GW to me, or people that I find inspirational... I only have femalesas men that have added me aren't very supportive, and the majority of their friends are half naked women which to me says u r just here for a perve....

I often deny people when they do not leave a MSG with their request. I have a private profile so it's not like they have read my profile and decided that we should be friends. Maybe they have liked one of my posts or something, but I would prefer if they would say that in the request. I have quite a small friends list, i like it that way

Never turn people down, but if they dont log in, or interact, or offer support, or chat rant about anything not fittness related, over the next month then I delete them. I give them a month. some people are friend collectors, I like to keep up and offer support to all of them, so I try and keep it under 100.

There is a written test and a physical challenge.

.... for some unknown reason, I have a fair amount of young ladies who have requested to be friends with me.... maybe I remind them of their grandfather, LOL....

You remind me of my friend...
...Would you be my grandfather?

..... ( OK, I am only 49, but still ).

I'm also 49. But 49 is still young, right? ...Right? ...RIGHT??? :huh:

I do now ask for a message, but sometimes get requests without any explanation, so I then send a note asking for a message about how they came across me and why they want to be friends. I haven't turned anyone down, even though it does say on my profile that I'm about at my limit. It's all about support given and received, and I just don't have time to give support to many more than I have at the moment, but some seem to be dropping out of MFP at the moment. I also find that some of my friends are not eating sensibly (if their diaries are open), so I have given up commenting on their diaries - at the end of the day it is their choice. But I will still comment on their exercising and logging.
I have also met friends through the groups - people in UK, people in my age group, people with the same sort of weight to lose, as I can learn so much from them.
And I do feel some of them are becoming real friends!

Thus far I have accepted all friend requests. That may change in the future if it becomes too much to keep up with. I gravitate toward topics that I'm interested in (shout out to all my geek friends!) but I don't limit myself to friends that are only similar size/age/fitness level, etc, because I think we can all benefit from a different perspective

Probably 3/4 of my friends requested me. The others are people I had seen around for a while and felt some sense of commonality with. I have deleted 2 people - one who was obviously only here to see what he could get away with, and one for (unfortunately) looking for support for her eating disorder after a nice, well-intentioned note of concern was ignored.

but very rarely request people...I'm shy/fear rejection lol.

^^this

The people to whom I have sent requests was because of either something I saw that was similar to myself (goals, sense of humor, location, etc), or something I respected/admired (for example, those that have a lot of fitness knowledge).

I also prefer to keep the group small because I try to interact with everyone on my list at least every few days. So yea- if you don't log in for a month (and no reason why) I'm deleting you. I need to feel some sort of connection with my friends.

I send out few requests, and most of the ones I did were to fans of Sons of Anarchy, or people who I see consistently posting stuff that makes sense.

I had some requests ignored, so I don't really send many requests. My profile picture scares them away I guess.

I have yet to send out a friend request, but that's for my own personal reasons.

About 90% of my friends sent a request to me based on a few posts I've posted, as they were motivational in topic and it seemed a number of people were looking for friends like that. That's what makes me happy. I'm not going to turn down someone unless I know they're being destructive in their own goals.

Some people say that they don't want to add someone who don't seem to show support, but what I find wrong with that is sometimes, it's them who need the support, and if everyone turned them down merely because they didn't show support, how is that helping a fellow MFPer accomplish their goal?

When I first joined, I didn't think much about it. I didn't think I'd last long, that it would be a phase and a failure. But the one friend who got me into MFP supported me, even if I wasn't supporting her. As a result, I've now logged in for over 20 days in a row, and her support has given me reason to support others.

And with my support, I find others more willing to support not only me, but their friends, too. It was a wonderful feeling adding 40 friends in a single day, and I haven't regretted it since.

I have not sent any request if someone sends a request I'l approved them.

Is not an issue, we are all here for the same reason.

I RARELY, if ever send out a request, with the excption of when I deactivated my old account and started using this one, because I added back some of my old friends.

As far as accepting, if they appear to be a collector (with no msg), I deny. If I notice the person from forums and/or friends in common I'll usually accept. If Ido not recognize them from anywhere and there is no message, I usually deny.

It is no sweat of my back to accept everyone... they do get removed if they treat it like Facebook and go over every menial detail of their miserable lives...

Yep