I actually don't have any friends in the game yet. The 2-week trial period has several community-based restrictions, probably to cut back on RMT.
Those being, no whispers, no inviting to parties, no LS, no FC, no GC. There may be more that I was unaware of. Those restrictions meant that even when I met someone and we had fun, I could friend them but never whisper them to say hi. Maybe they thought I was rude, by not whispering? I dunno if the general population is aware of the restrictions placed on the 2-week trial folks.