Irish,
the point of the buddy list is that when you log into the message board and go to your "user CP" you can see if anyone on your list is actually logged in... that way you could send them a PM or chat with them knowing that they are logged in.

A lot of folks here have their profile set to not show when they are on-line (i.e. logged into the message board) so in those cases it would be of no value to have that person in your buddy list.

I would say that this is more and more common as the younger generation becomes more and more wired in... when I got going, internet connectivity was only e-mail and FTP sites... but now it is all chat boards, instant messaging, web pages, and anything else that comes to mind. When it comes to this stuff I should be the one that is called the "old fart" as I was into in the days of the 1200baud modem (at least it was not a 300baud).

hope that helps... -NY