honestly the friends thing is just an updated version of the old buddy system that we used to have. It comes built in with the software and isnt anything special that was added. The designers of vBulletin software likely just made the feature more prominent because of the social networking sites like myspace and facebook etc



I really dont think anyone should read more into it than that.
I have personally not sent any friend requests but only accepted any that have come in as a courtesy. that sure doesnt mean that I am not friends with anyone else

the convenience of the friends feature is that it lets one send group PMs to those on one's friends list and also gives quick link to their profile from yours etc etc etc
It is designed more as a networking thing rather than as a "pick you friends and exclude others" one....so honestly it can be used to advantage when used correctly

anyways, just wanted to clear that up as i do think perhaps it has been somewhat misinterpreted

to all