Facebook friend requests

[Kim&Chris]

Do you receive friend requests from people you don't know?

I got a friend request this morning from a guy named Ricky, with a last name that had about 14 consonants in a row. I looked at his picture and it's a photo of a guy in a Navy uniform. No friends in common. It made me immediately think it was one of those 'made up' profiles.

I ignored the request.

This is maybe the 5th or 6th odd request I've gotten. Do these folks just randomly go through FB and send friend requests? Weird, definitely weird.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I have 2 of those requests sitting in my notifications. One is a guy out in Indiana (I'm in CT), and another is a woman from somewhere in the Eastern Europe/Middle East/Asian area (her profile doesn't say, but her page isn't in English). I have no idea who these people are and we don't have any mutual friends. The woman doesn't even have any US friends in the first place. Their pages both do say that they're "looking for dating" and "women." Uh...well...my profile picture is of me and my DBF, so it's kind of obvious that I'm taken!

It crossed my mind that they're other Vampire Wars players, looking for clan members, but the protocol is to say "For VW" in your friend request so that the requestee knows.

 

[AprilShowers]

I'm new to this facebook thing, but your post made me think of something that bothers me about friend requests.
Do any of you get friend requests from people you barely know? Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't care if you are looking for new rugs for little Jenny's dorm room. If the most conversation we've had EVER is to say hello at church or the grocery store, why do you want to friend me? I don't get it.

Can someone explain this phenomenon?

Sorry OP for the hijack, and to answer your question, no I haven't received any from random strangers (yet).

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I've gotten about half a dozen requests from young women - looking for men. Hello - middle aged woman here! Not looking for a young woman... I usually report them and/or ignore them.

 

[SamRoc]

I got a request from a guy in Turkey. Have no idea who he is and we have no one in common. This was about 6 months ago and i denied it right away. Maybe these people are just looking to increase their friend numbers. I have 64 friends, they are all my lifelong friends and family members.

 

[mill4023]

I occasionally get them as well. One was someone who went to the same high school as me, so I guess that's how they got my name. But I had no idea who the person was.
If you play any of the games like Mafia Wars, you are likely to get some friend requests from people who have seen your name there. People are trying to build up their mafia, but you can only join someone's mafia if you are on their friend list.

 

[Feralpeg]

Most of my Facebook friends are people I have never met. They are friends of friends. They are almost exclusively actors. The acting community tends to stick together. There have been a couple that I have been a little iffy about, but they turned out to be okay. I've actually met some nice people this way.

I also have a couple of DIS Facebeook friends whom I've never met face to face.

 

[SC Minnie]

I also have a couple of DIS Facebeook friends whom I've never met face to face.

Me too. There are some really great people on this board.


I have received off the wall requests from people that just seem to be 'surfing' for people. I just ignore them if they don't specify they are from the DIS or for Mafia Wars. I have an uncommon name and there are no others with my first and last name on FB so I know they aren't confusing me with someone else.

 

[TAKitty]

I'm new to this facebook thing, but your post made me think of something that bothers me about friend requests.
Do any of you get friend requests from people you barely know? Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't care if you are looking for new rugs for little Jenny's dorm room. If the most conversation we've had EVER is to say hello at church or the grocery store, why do you want to friend me? I don't get it.

Can someone explain this phenomenon?

Sorry OP for the hijack, and to answer your question, no I haven't received any from random strangers (yet).

I thought the same thing you did at first, but (this is coming from my much younger sister and brother) facebook is to network. Older adults use it for their close friends etc., but that wasn't the intent.

You can also block people who are your friends that you don't want to see their updates. You can also create friend lists.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Oh, I never thought of the Mafia wars thing!! Very interesting. I played MW for about a week, mostly just accepting stuff from other folks who were active players but I stopped playing and now I just ignore the gifts. Same with Farmtown, Yoville, and all the other games on FB.

Thanks

 

[KristaTX]

Most of the people I've gotten requests from but about whom I know nothing are DISers - mostly from the podcast forum group. I guess people must just ask all their DIS friends' friends to be their friends or something . Or maybe they join a group and ask everyone in that group to be their friend. If I can tell kind of what part of my life (DIS, church, high school, etc) they are coming from based on who their other friends are, I typically accept the friendship and then just "hide" the people who I don't really know and whose updates I don't really care about. But I look at their walls to see if they seem somewhat "normal" and are interacting with people in a fun and kind manner.

There was one guy recently, though, who I finally just deleted. He seemed to have somehow gotten a lot of DIS and other friends, but all he ever posted was quotes and and trite sayings. And he had all these pictures of himself looking muscley and not smiling on his page. I saw that someone kept asking him, "Who are you and how do I know you???", but he wouldn't reply to her. He seemed a little odd and like someone I'd never interact with, so I de-friended him. He had a heap of friends. I'm sure it was probably just from Mafia Wars or something, and that some DISer had accepted him, and then bunches more after that. It's like a virus .

 

[Feralpeg]

The only thing I don't like about Facebook are the people who use it as a political forum. I have one guy that does it all the time. He is constantly posting clips and his opinions on politics. I don't do Facebook to hear other peoples' political views. I friended him because he is a local actor. I may have to hide him. I'm really tired of what he posts.

 

[DebbieB]

I got a friend request last week from a guy who wrote like English was not his first language. He said he viewed my profile (which he couldn't have because only my friends can), he thought we could become friends and to contact him so that we could become "intimate".

I reported him.

 

[CharityLynn]

I was going to say games, a lot of different games have it where people need a ton of friends to really get anywhere. They probably saw your name on one of those.

Friend requests in general don't bother me, what does bother me is friending someone for a game and then they proceed to give you 50 suggested friends every day! Grr I am abutt o get rid of this guy just for that reason lol

I really wish I had made a game profile seperate from my family and friends profile...

 

[Sheree Bobbins]

A young lady (about 20) wanted to befriend me. Her last name was the same as a fellow who used to sing under me in a church choir. We had a couple mutual church friends so I befriended her but I didn't know her. I've got a few friends from Laughingplace that I've never met. The 2 English people post so much! Polls and quizzes and what not. I finally had to hide them. Really streamlines my facebook page now.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

I get tons of friend requests for mafia wars. If I accept them, I put them in their own little mafia wars friend list and block them from seeing pretty much everything. I did get a creepy one. The message said "Hi, u look beautiful." I showed my DH, then ignored it. I didn't even think to block it, but if I get another one I'll either block it or report it.