definitely some good thoughts, there!

"the whole idea about tribe was to meet new people with similar interests and expand your network"

absolutely, but doesn't mean you need to have them all linked to you as a friend, you can bookmark them, or visit the common tribe anytime & be in touch that way.

perhpas i also need to edit my guidelines to exlcude having met the person in "real life", but rather having enuf of an online relationship to be considered a friend.

I still think that once you link to someone as your friend, that means that you value that person beyond simply already being connected on tribe.net.

There are other online communities i've looked at out there that do not speak to me, and some are more regional than others (ie craigslist, and tribe is not well used in the East (canada anyhoo)).

I had a girl friend email me once, since a 'tribe friend' of mine wanted to link to her, and she was asking me if i really knew him and what he was like. I had to tell her that i had only known him online for a few weeks and had only met him once at one of our events. And that's when i gave her the guidelines that i use, for my own personal liking.

Now on the other hand, one wonders, so what? What if you link to a whole lot of folks that have things in common with you? Am i being paranoid about something?

Well isn't that what the tribe feature is for (i mean joining a tribe that speaks to you & about you).

On the other other hand, i'm not looking to link to as many people as possible, or to anyone who also likes the same things i do. What's the purpose of that?

At first, i was joining all kinds of tribes which appealed to me, but after a while, i realized that was too much, and only bookmarked those to go visit when time permitted. And so, the tribes i am a part of are those which really reflect my strong interests.

And then the line is even more blurry, because if someone has over, let's say 400 friends (arbitraty #), one wonders, hmmm do they really know that many people, or are they linking to anyone who has common interests, OR are they one of those 'wanting to be cool people' which are usually pretty easy to spot.

But what about Sobey with 707 friends now? I know he's not the type to link to a whack of folks just 'coz. So he must have something strong in common with that many folks. He travels alot, attends large festivals and lots of intimate gatherings, and is very well known, especially to the types that hang on tribe.....
I'm just saying it's hard to have to use judgement in order to make the fine line between "people just wanting to collect friends to look cool" vs knowing that if you are listed as a friend, you ARE a friend.

In the end, it all depends on your definition of friend, of which there are many.

friend
n.
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.

Boy, that was unexpected!