PeterC I don't think we should "assign buddies". IMO that sounds lame (just my opinion). However, if you want to become a part of the community, or feel more involved, you just need to reach out to people whose thoughts you enjoy. That's what the @@ symbols are for. Next time you read a post or see a comment you appreciate, let that person know. Friendships, conversations etc have to form organically. Everyone is friendly and I rarely see a conversation turn sour or someone get "shunned" or "excluded" on Hubski. After a while people will just recognize you and even expect to hear from you or anticipate your thoughts on a given topic.
Oh, I also think it sounds lame. I was just coming up with a title. As far as reaching out to people, that's different for everyone. Judging from uh_oh's comment on this, it seems that we share a type of reservation when approaching people. I realize that a lot of people don't feel the same way - like you. But I've been a user a fifth as long as you and uh_oh and other users less than that. Anyway, your comment was cool. I'll get over the hesitancy, but the point was for new users and not me.
True, I understand getting to know such a large community can be daunting. I also understand feeling a sort of hesitancy when it comes to contributing to a new online community. I never really felt comfortable contributing to reddit for similar reasons. It just felt too big and I felt like my voice would get drowned out. So I can relate in a way. But on Hubski, in my experience, when you reach out to someone - you'll get a response - and usually its an overwhelmingly friendly/interesting response.