Huh? The search feature is more advanced then even myspace search. Only thing it's missing is radius search for zip code, but who cares. e-mail and name search is all that's important, which both are there.

What's wrong with the add function? Send a request. They get a blinking icon with a message on their login module or in the workflow module telling them they got a new request.

The message sent with friend request IS optional. You don't have to put one in.