ok, i get that you write something in japanese, and people correct you, and you correct other people. Sounds good.
But whats the deal with the friends? What do you do, just add random people? I've got a few random requests. Are you supposed to do something special for your friends that you don't do normally?
Is there an RTK group on there, or people from here to be friends with, or is that pointless as we're all learning japanese?
thanks

The friends you add can see when you update your journal on their home page (likewise with you seeing their updates), but other than that there's not much other point to it..I don't think.

I've added mostly people I didn't know before; some have requested me and we've become kind of "e-pals". Or rather, *were* kind of e-pals. I don't write much anymore.

As for the group, I just searched and didn't find an RTK group (Y'all should make it! ) but it looks like there's a few for general kanji study.

You can set journals to be viewable only to your friends. Other than that, I don't think there is anything else really exclusive to friends technically. I think by having people on your friends list, they're more likely (or at least hopefully) to come back and correct your entries. Otherwise they just appear on the 'journals awaiting corrections' or 'extended network' lists, which people might miss/not bother with.

Some people who speak the same language comment on others'/their friends' entries like they would on a normal social network site.

I have found Lang8 really really useful in improving my Chinese.
I add anybody who requests as a friend - more people that may correct my Chinese there
It's really an awesome places to practice and improve writing - which is one the skills I think most of us focus on a lot loss less than our reading skills.

I got 50 friends on there. I only really converse with one. The rest just mean more corrections and more perspectives.

Having other learners on your friends list, even if they can't help you with your Japanese, might have other benefits anyway. That should put you on the expanded network of those friend's friends (who presumably will be mostly native speakers), which would be more chance of getting your stuff seen and corrected.

If that makes any sense. I'm not sure it even made any to me now.