I don't think seeking friendships is a naive, newbie thing. We've been in the lifestyle for about 18 months and we've developed friendships with every couple we've been with. And, by friends I mean we IM or email about once a week, we called to check on them this fall with the multiple hurricanes, some we visit since they don't live close by. They are all people we'd hang out with anyway--funny, witty, intelligent folks who are in the same place in life that we are. And, some of them we would ask to pick us up at the airport at midnight--cuz we have.
We weren't particularly looking to find these relationships, but since we've found them, we're cultivating them. No, we don't mean in a polyamorus way either, but good friends are hard to find and we're lucky to have done so.
Pepper