I generally take the same approach to the Trek BBS friend feature as I do to the Facebook friend feature -- that is, I rarely (almost never) send friend requests to people. I'm a little weird (okay,
really weird) in that I don't want to assume that just because I like someone, they like me too (yes, I have self-esteem issues... I'm trying to deal with them, honest).
This is why I let people send friend requests to me. And hey, I actually find it very flattering when someone does -- it lets me know that I've been noticed, and that someone has apparently liked something I've written.

So far, I haven't refused any friend requests... I can't imagine I would, unless I got one from someone I can't stand (not that there are too many people like that on here anyway -- and I doubt such individuals would try to friend me). And I'm glad to have gotten them, because most of the people on my friends list are posters that I've grown to respect and appreciate.
Perhaps I should get more aggressive with the friend feature... there are a number of funny and friendly people on here who's posts I love reading -- people I would be pleased to call "friend". Maybe I'll just start friending people like mad... or not.

Although if any of these future additions to the friend feature appeal to me, I may just decide to expand my list...