Friends overview
Connect with people you want to keep in touch with.
What is a friend?
A friend is another Root user you've added to your friends list. Your friends list is a collection of all your friends, making it easy to see who's online and message them directly. Adding someone as a friend creates a mutual connection—you can see each other's online status, message each other directly, and find each other easily without needing to share a community.
Friendship in Root is bidirectional. Both people must agree to be friends. You send a friend request, and the other person accepts or declines it.
How friends work
The friends system includes several features:
- Friends list shows all your friends in one place, organized by their online status
- Friend groups let you organize friends into custom categories like "Gamers", "Colleagues", or "Family". Every friend belongs to exactly one group. See Organize friends to learn more.
- Online status lets you see when friends are online, away, or offline
- Cross-community visibility lets you see when friends are online even if they're in a different community (indicated by a cutout in the status circle)
- Friend requests are how you add new friends. You send a request using their username, and they choose whether to accept
- Direct access to friends means you can always message them, even if you don't share any communities
Your friends list is separate from community member lists. Someone can be your friend without being in any of your communities, and community members aren't automatically your friends.
If you no longer want someone as a friend, you can remove them. This is mutual and removes the connection for both of you.
When to add friends
Add someone as a friend when you want to:
- Stay connected with someone you met in a community
- See their status to know when they're online and available
- Message them easily without searching through community member lists
- Keep in touch even if one of you leaves a shared community