I have a thought, keep in mind I am VERY new to all this. Allow all users to get a certain number of their friends in without a waiting period. and base that number on their reputation score. for example you can get one new person in a month for every 5 points you have over the given 25...or something like that.

This adds to encouraging people to create content, interact, ect, to raise their score. This also takes a bit of power away from spammers. AND makes the entry process waiting period less confusing/annoying and more like an exclusive membership that someone earned. Just a thought.