Absolutely not. I know very few people from my friends-list in real life and I don't care who reads my lj. It's open to everyone and I have no problem keeping private things to myself.
What it is - I'm pretending to be concerned with my "friends-of" well being, my post says:
"Please take me off you friends-list. My posts are way too long. lj-cut represents a problem for those who want to read them (loading time too long for people w/o fast connection). Reading friends-list is not good in general. I read my favorite live-journals directly, each one is kind of a piece of art in undefined genre, while friends-list mode is a poor collage.
I add those who impressed me within lj. I consider it ridiculous to remove friends from the list because of difference of opinions - friends-list should be colorful. Vote for diversity (slogan of local gay-lesbian). No, I won't be friends in real life with all those from my list. And visa versa, I'm friends with some who has lj-account but doesn't post - but I won't add them to my friends-list.

I don't expect people to add me 'cause I added them - add me 'cause I post fabulous recipes. Of rather take off the list".

Ahh... thank you :)

A 'feature' of changing your account to a community then back to an individual journal is deletion of 'friends of' list, if you need it. But all of your real friends will have to add you back, which may be annoying.

Otherwise, I know what you mean about people thinking they will be added if they add you, I get a lot of that =/

Lierre, thanks, but I believe my friends-of should take care of themselves - if the length of my uncut posts disturbs them - and I was mostly kidding anyway.

I wonder if you read Russian. BTW, have you noticed this 3d WW between some Russian lj-users and English-speaking teenagers .

I started studying Russian when I was about 13, independently, and only did so seriously for about three years. I had a lovely Cyrillic handwriting at one point, and probably not a bad accent if my casettes were correct :)

I browse it now to try to remember some of it. Most of it I can't understand at all anymore, especially the slang that I never did learn anyway. I had no contact to speakers of it, native or learned. But I always found it a beautiful language. I must have some Russian blood in me I don't know about, I am too attracted to the culture and don't know why.

Just read the link you gave me and commented... how utterly puerile, just plain immature of those kids :p