How do you decide who to Friend or Foe?

Is a foe simply somebody who’s ideas are different to yours or somebody who ticks you off? Or do you carefully make the decision based on their well put arguments? I have only ever Foe’d 1 person and that was purely out of respect for the challenge and run for my money they gave me. I also sent the person a U2U to make sure they knew it was a respectful foeing not a spiteful one. Does anybody else do this or do they just hit the foe button and move on?

I have been foed 3 times so far. (I guess I am not trying hard enough ) and one of those upgraded me to friend (I am still trying to work that one out) but all 3 were done very shortly after I started threads they were opposed to so it wasn’t hard to guess why.

Are your friends members that have the same philosophy as you or you just like what they wrote once or just because they picked you as a friend so you felt obliged? Are they members you have had some kind of pleasant interaction with? I think I am more free in selecting friends than foes and some of them are for each of the above reasons.

I "friend" people I respect, like, admire and care for. My Friend list isn't complete either.

I don't do the "foe" thing, I prefer to stay positive be it here or in real life. Though I do have people that chose me as a foe because I'm a Christian. I can live with that.

Originally posted by VIKINGANT
Are your friends members that have the same philosophy as you or you just like what they wrote once or just because they picked you as a friend so you felt obliged? Are they members you have had some kind of pleasant interaction with?

all of the above.

notttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 11111111111111 lineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee pooooooooooooooooooooost.

Honestly, it is a judgement call. There are two or three people who have "foe'd" me who admt they don't really consider me a foe, but they can't really add me, due to ideological differences, to their friend's list.

Typically, I foe those who foe me, or who just constantly try to get me in pissing matches with them. There is nothing any more irritating than someone who has nothing good to say towards you.

Generally, I don't friend people. I've added a few folks o friends because they've friended me and I like them. As for foe's, they are generally folks who I don't agree with, but they make a good argument, and I tend to back off if I see a post by them, and instead analyze it and make sure I can counter the argument.
People that just tick me off I ignore.

reply to post by VIKINGANT


i personally dont get why it matters....

do we have to catagorise 'everything' in life, evan our participation on an internet site?

its just like myspace in a way (not that i've been on) though i've heard you can have so many friends and its such a big deal. strange.

not trying to put a downer on yr thread sorry...just dont understand.

I guess it doesn't really matter. I was just getting into the heads of people here. Friending and foeing are 2 functions many people do take seriously so was interested to see how they use them.

If you dont use them that's fine. It still answers the question. Based on the responss so far the uses are varied and I am sure there are more uses as well.

when I first joined I wa a lurker and got foed by someone. that person is still ther but they have alot of foes. Seems this person is trying to be the most hated person here. haha

I try to keep my friend spots open for those I only have the utmost respect for. Most are heavy hitting intellectuals and some are just "my dudes."

Donoso - Incredible mind. Always level headed and spot on with his opinions, constantly backed by facts and statistics. He produces dope music, too. A respect with many levels.

anhinga - I haven't seen this guy around for awhile, but as much as he is strange, he's an awesome guy. We actually email each other every once in awhile to see how things are going, though it's been awhile. Always on the "pursuit."

Beachcoma - The most intelligent and down to earth person I've ever talked to on ATS. He's helpful with any question and is a mole for information and can relay it in laymen terms no problem. I've never seen BeachComa meet his match or even come close. Though we duked it out early about vegetarianism and being "eco friendly," but after some short lived animosity, we became fairly good friends.

Osiris1953 - The young gun. The nice, caring, and respectful version of me. An inquiring mind that has ripped many a new one in many, many debates/discussions.

stumason - One of the most entertaining people to learn from on ATS. Funny, sarcastic, and a fellow destroyer of "stupid idiots." Always on point with posts and usually says what I'd like to say to someone more eloquently than I could ever attempt. Always getting one upped by the English...

The Axeman - The same. Always very thoughtful in his posts, but stern enough to get your attention if you're out of line, especially when it comes to his way of life. Always good work! Always to the point! Always factual! Hard hitting! Spittin' Masonic Fire Justice. Which, after the 33 degree, you'll learn how to actually spit Masonic Fire Justice, he told me. Right? Ron Paul, ride or die!!

cavscout - Even though we don't agree about things religiously, he's an incredible dude who's been through a lot of things I couldn't even imagine. His knowledge about all things military alone is pretty astounding.

SimiusDei - My friend, who was always an outspoken jack ass, and subsequently booted off the forums for it. We had a similar sense of humor. The ultimate friendly clash of egos. Awesome guy as others around here feel differently.

Harlequin - After the smoke settled between this dude and I, I was stoked to talk it out and become "friends" with him. Try and test this guy on anything regarding military technology. I've also seen him burn people alive in heated debate. He's a warrior on the forums and I'm always looking for his posts!

Shar_Chi - What's right is right, what's wrong is wrong. A concept both of us live by. Definitely a warrior in his own right and definitely has the ferocity to prove you wrong if you think otherwise. Another fellow hothead, and I'm all about it. This guy and I have put in work on some poor members that didn't see it coming.

I also look out for posts by Tom_Bedlam, Jpm1602, Alightindarkness, Blackops719, DimensionalDetective, skyfloating, RockPuck, and Crakeur. All super impressive or just plain cool. There's a bunch of others that slip my mind, as well.

I can tell you now that if I was somebody else, there is no way I would ever add a cocky, egotistical, zero tolerance, and semi- if not blatantly disrespectful jerk off like myself. Probably why I respect and give thanks to the aforementioned. They're not lacking in areas that I obviously am.

I don't do the foe thing. I'm slightly above that. Keeping the E-peace and what not. And this isn't a circle jerk, I just think respect is due to a lot of people who don't normally get it. I also wanted to explain why I think people should be more diligent in throwing this "friend" word around.

reply to post by tigpoppa


Haha. WolfofWar has struck again. I actually really like what he has to say, minus the anti-vulnerability thing he plays up on the internet. We've had some pretty similar threads. Great minds think alike and are also ***holes, evidently. I'm sure it's all in good fun.

I haven't foe'd anyone yet. I have been foe'd, and instead I added that person as a friend. I believe they had just gone around foeing everyone out of spite...oh well

I have 25 ish people on my friends - they're people that I see a lot on the boards and talk to a lot. We're in the same threads a lot, and run into eachother quite often. Some of them I have on my MSN and so I've gotten to know them a little outside of ATS.

I have some friends that I just enjoy their general outlook and we have great discussions about everything. It varies. I dont think I really have any set criteria for friends.

- Carrot

You know.. Actually I did not come here to make Foes.. I recently been chosen to be one's Foe though..

In a rush when that happend I selected that person aswel as being my Foe, but then I decided, the reason why this person selected me as being a Foe was way beyond silly and childish, I just don't want to lower myself to that level and hit the red cross to unfoe this person again..

Then I have a light believe in Karma, you know, what goes around comes around..

one thing i forgot to mention is why i foe posters. i foe posters who irk me on purpose. 2 ppl come to mind. one of them knows who they are and the other one was banned (thank god). if you come into my threads when you know that you're more than likely not gonna like what i have to say, then that means you just come into them looking to instigate. it dosen't make sense.

i tend to attract a lot of posters who like to irk me on purpose. i'm good at doing that in real life too.

posters who's opinions and viewpoints who i disagree with, i usually don't foe.

i left out another reason why i befriend posters. one other reason i'll befriend posters is because i'm similar to them. i'll also befriend posters who can accept, and are willing to look past, the fact i'm a: vain, arrogant, conceited, foul mouthed, pretty boy.

[edit on 16-8-2008 by LordInfamous]

[edit on 16-8-2008 by LordInfamous]

reply to post by DeadFlagBlues


Thanks for your well tought out explaination of your friending and foeing. Much more than I was expecting. I have a few of your friends on my list for very much the same reasons.

Its funny that I have not seem any of my friends (my choice or thiers) on this thread yet. I haven't seen any foes yet either,but then I wouldn't expect to .

It seems some people foe for the sake of foeing (Not you guys) just because they dont like someone. I like to see it as a 'respected' foe thing like I mentioned earlier. Some one who offers an intellectual challenge as opposed to a spite thing.

reply to post by VIKINGANT


friends: people that i respect and think have a great way of showing their views

foes: people i respect who make me work my ass off when making a counter view post.

i dont hate my foes

I reserve foe status for ignoramuses that try to shove their illogical views down other peoples throats. As of yet I haven't used the foe status for that purpose as I usually forget to. I only have two people on my foe list and both times I irrationally added them.

The first one I don't even remember adding him, it must of been a long time ago. As for the second, she severely ticked me off as she would believe the most whacked out threads out there with no evidence. I irrationally added her to my foe list and I regret that. I haven't found a way to take people off yet.

As for friend status, I add people I get along with and am able to banter with in chat, or if they make quality posts that share my sense of views.

reply to post by LordInfamous


I thought we settled this, I do not irk you on purpose. It is complete happenstance!


Anyways, I don't do the foe thing. I friend people who I have respect and agree with a lot on te board.

I friend people who take the time to U2U me and actually get to know me. I friend people I admire, or who have made me think, or moved me. I will automatically friend someone who friends me because I assume they feel about me something like what I felt about the ones I picked. I will remove a friend add if they don't friend me back. But I give them a while. I friend Mods because I can U2U them easier from my profile when I have questions, or I generally like them. Like NGC.
I have not foed anyone yet. I will if they provoke me. I would probably do that so I would see and/or recognize their posts easier.
I haven't been foe'd yet so I don't know if I will foe them back. I think that would depend on the situation.

My best friends on ATS are the ones I have been doing research with, and Karlhungis. He is awesome.

I got a foe the first week here .It hurt my feelings sort of lol .
It drove me nuts as to why me ? I thought that maybe it was because I am a Christian and they may have been an athiest ..and most of them really have a hate against us ..they dont just disagree ..you can sense anger and snarls in their posts ...
Or maybe they just think I talk too much lol ...
Anyway whoever it was took it off I think because I dont see it anymore .
So then I decided they just considered me a foe then got to know me maybe .
Hey Foe can you tell me why you foed me ?
lol



[I will automatically friend someone who friends me because I assume they feel about me something like what I felt about the ones I picked.]

Thats what I do too .

[edit on 5-9-2008 by Simplynoone]

Foes:

I had someone "Foe" me, dont know why. Dude seems like a total tea bagger, so I dont really mind. I really have no reason to put anyone on that list, it seems kind of disrespectful. If I really, really, reallyyyy cant stand someone I put them on "Ignore".

Friends:

I only have a few friends, but its for a reason. The ones I have I like and respect. They have all the qualities that I like in a friend. Its not that Im not open to more, I just havent talked to too many people.