Argh! One thing that drives me right up a wall is receiving a private message from someone and then being unable to respond because they've got their privacy setting enabled. What's the point of someone asking me a question if I can't send you back an answer? Not mad, just frustrated.
Anyway, here's my policy on friending. Anyone can friend me, I'm happy to have you here, so long as you're respectful to everyone else who comments. The Golden Rule is a big thing for me, so long as no one is nasty it's all good. But I don't automatically friend you back unless I know you, have been reading your fic, like your icons and art or whatever. I like to get to know people through comments and whatnot before I friend back. This is simply because in the early days I had a couple of bad experiences on LJ and now it's a standing rule. So hang around and let me get to know you. I add to my f-list every couple of months.
Anyway, here's my policy on friending. Anyone can friend me, I'm happy to have you here, so long as you're respectful to everyone else who comments. The Golden Rule is a big thing for me, so long as no one is nasty it's all good. But I don't automatically friend you back unless I know you, have been reading your fic, like your icons and art or whatever. I like to get to know people through comments and whatnot before I friend back. This is simply because in the early days I had a couple of bad experiences on LJ and now it's a standing rule. So hang around and let me get to know you. I add to my f-list every couple of months.