I would have to say that I do believe that members and models can be friends because I have a few very close friends that I have made while working on MFC and lots of other members that I think of as friends. That being said, my entire life involves my children and then online community so I am very lonely (that sounds pathetic). What I mean is that being a single mother of 4 with no real family (both parents deceased) takes up a lot of my time, so I don't socialize much in the real world. My social life is online through MFC, Twitter, Facebook, my forum, ACF, OCNASC. The people I meet in my room leave impressions on me, all in different ways and I love that about what I do. We are like one big happy (dysfunctional) family with so many different personalities. The problem that I have run into the most is that I am to trusting and think that everyone is my friend when in the end that is not the case.
I try to remember that for the most part, members are coming to MFC for some source of entertainment and not any type of committed relationship (friendship or girlfriend). So we can be friends with lots of people, it is just a matter of the expectations of the friendship. This is the same in real life though. You have many friends but you don't talk to them all as often, don't share the same info with everyone, don't give your time the same...different levels of friendship.
I am babbling...LOL