Unrelated very short LJ question:

[msagara]

Can anyone tell me what a serial adder is? And, if it's what the name implies, what the point of being one is?

Comments

[amyirene-40.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you asked this one - I'd never heard the term before. I assume I'd have run into it sooner or later so it is good to know exactly what it means.

I am confused about why it is considered such a bad thing. If the serial adder is doing something like spewing obnoxious and/or off topic posts to all the LJs that were friended, that would be annoying and troll-like. But the impression I've gotten from reading these responses is that all the person does is add names to their friends list.

I don't understand the harm in someone randomly friending me - shoot, it would be kind of flattering: "Look! I'm interesting enough to have attracted a serial adder! At last my life has meaning."

[msagara.livejournal.com]

I did some reading from some of the links that other users have posted since I asked; I think people use porn names or offensive language as their user IDs, and the words that turn up in the "friend of" list can upset people. Which is fair enough.

[amyirene-40.livejournal.com]

Ah, now that makes sense, and suddenly I understand why LJ offers to the option to hide the "friend of" list on the profile page.