Whether

[meg_levins]

I bounce through livejournal like I bounce through myspace: clicking on each image that catches my attention, skimming words to find something I want to stop and read.  I've found someone on here that I want to add to my friends so I can read his/her entries each time he/she posts.  I'm wondering if I should just click the "add" button, or if I

Comments

Both!

[colibri29]

don't be shy.... :)

[keithgrant]

In my opinion, a brief explanatory comment might be a good idea simply because Livejournal doesn't notify you like MySpace does when you're befriended, so if you care about reciprocation (which not everyone does, but it lets you see FO posts) it's best practice to make your intentions known.

As far as the etiquette goes? Who wouldn't want new friends?

[meg_levins]

I thought livejournal did notify once you've been befriended. No? I seem to remember getting little messages in my email saying "keithgrant has added you as a friend". I don't know how I would feel if I found out some random person was adding me as a friend. But then again, I suppose that's the purpose of keeping your posts public, right? I wish lj would let you message....

[keithgrant]

Hm, I'm not sure. I don't think I recall Livejournal ever offering that feature, but I'll allow as how I might be wrong. It could well be a benefit of some tier of paid accounts these days. Re: messaging, there's the LJ Talk network, but that's more IM and I get the idea you meant messaging in the MySpace sense. Heck, just leave a comment. Unless, I suppose, you have friends that are that neurotic that they don't want off-topic comments on their posts.