What is the difference between friend and fan?

From the very earliest social networks people have wondered what it means to be added as a friend. What should they do in return? It can be hard to give a canonical answer because the answer is socially dependent not software dependent. It depends on the goals of the community and on the individual doing the friending.

On many CrowdVine networks we offer both a friend and a fan option. What does that mean? How do you categorize someone? Our goal is not to create a master list of your friends and fans, it's to help give you ways to connect with people. So use them to connect with people.

If you know the person and just want to make sure they know you're coming, add them as a friend. If you wish you knew someone, show your admiration by marking yourself as a fan.

Our data, btw, shows that this is exactly how the rest of the network is using the features. There's very little overlap between the two groups, and people marked friend are five times more likely to reciprocate.