LiveJournal uses a system of "Friends" as part of the community element of the site. All LiveJournal users can maintain a "Friends list" of up to 750 other LiveJournal users. This list is then used throughout the site. Notably, your Friends list is used to determine who appears on your Friends page, and to restrict access to your entries and other information. A list of a person's Friends also appears on their User Info page. It is not possible to hide your Friends list, since you have complete control over whom you choose to list as a friend.
FRIENDS PAGE
Your Friends page is a single page containing the recent entries of all the people you list as Friends. You can access this page at
http://www.livejournal.com/users/exampleusername/friends/, replacing "exampleusename" with your username.
You can customize the appearance of your Friends page in the same way that you can customize your journal page. This allows you to change things such as the overall layout of the page, its colors, and the number of entries that appear on it. Many friends page styles also use foreground and background colors for your Friends. You can select these colors for each of your Friends, and their usernames will then appear in these colors on your friends page.
If your Friends have posted more entries than appear on your Friends page, then you can follow links on the page to view their older entries. However, you can only use the Friends page format to read the last 1000 entries from all your friends or the entries they have posted in the last two weeks.
SECURITY
When you post journal entries, you have the option of either posting them publicly, or limiting who can view them. This security relies heavily on your Friends list. Full information about entry security can be found at
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=24. Other LiveJournal features, such as commenting, default comment screening, polls, text messaging, memories, viewing contact information, and more can be adjusted based on your friends list.
WEB INTERFACE
There are two ways to edit your Friends list using the web interface. You can use either the "Edit Friends" page, or the "Auto-add Friend" button on someone's User Info page.
The Edit Friends page is at
http://www.livejournal.com/friends/edit.bml. This page has three sections. The first allows you to simply add back other users who you do not list by selecting the check boxes next to their names. The second contains a list of users you currently list as Friends. You can remove people from your friends list by selecting the check boxes next to their names in this list. Finally, there is a text area where you can enter up to five usernames to add to your Friends list, and select foreground and background colors for them. You can also use this area to alter the colors for your existing friends. Simply enter their username again in this area and select the desired colors. After you have made all the changes you wish to make, you need to select "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.
If you are logged in, you will see a small icon with a "+" symbol in the blue toolbar at the top of everyone's User Info page. When you click on that icon, you will be prompted to confirm your decision and the user is then added to your Friends list.
If you already list the user as a Friend, this button allows you to modify settings (such as colors and custom Friends groups) or to remove them from your Friends list.
DOWNLOADABLE CLIENT
Many clients available for download can be used to manage your Friends list. For information on a specific client, consult its documentation or its menu options.
USER INFO PAGE
Usernames that appear in bold text on a User Info page are those who are on your own Friends list. This can be used to determine which friends you share with another user, or which users on your 'Friend of' list are also on your Friends list. Your own Friends list will not be marked in bold. Usernames with lines through them are either deleted or suspended.
There is an option on
http://www.livejournal.com/editinfo.bml called "Display mutual friends on profile page." If you select this option, people who list you as a friend will be listed in a 'Mutual Friends' list if they are also on your own Friends list, and in an 'Also Friend of' list if they are not. Otherwise, everyone who lists you as a friend will be listed together in a 'Friend of' list.
If you have more than 150 users on your Mutual Friends or Friend of list, your User Info page will display the first 150 users. You can see the full list by checking the full version of your user info (
http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=exampleusername&mode=full).
If you have more than 500 users on your own Friends list, your User Info page will not display the full list, but will link to a Directory search instead. If you have turned on the Mutual Friends option, only 500 of those friends will be checked for Mutual status. Any others will be listed under 'Also Friend of' and unbolded, regardless of whether they are on your own Friends list. Although they appear as if you had not friended them, the unbolding and placement in another list are a display limitation only and does not affect the actual Friend relationship. If you reduce the number of users on your Friends list, the Directory link will no longer appear, and visual misplacement of Friends will no longer occur.
FURTHER READING
What are custom friends groups? How do I use them?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=102
Can I remove people from my "Friend Of" list?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=185
How do I customize the look of my journal or community?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=7
How do I change the number of journal entries per page?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=13
How do I control who can post comments in my journal?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=23
What is a downloadable client? Where can I get one?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=158
What is the Directory? How do I use this feature?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=123
The Log In page
http://www.livejournal.com/login.bml.
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