Ah - sorry about the look of your f-list. It's probably the difference between logging out and appearing as a guest and being logged in as a free user. In an effort to be more like Facebook, LJ has created the "new friends page". There should be an option at the top of the page to try it out.

Like Facebook,it's a sitewide theme with infinite scroll. It's not my cup of tea, but it may place the adds differently than you're current f-list view.

Definitely try the import over to DW. Most people that you know here that moved over have the same name, so easy to look up. You might want to look at the friending meme that Kouredios set up. It started in the beginning of December, but I still get a ping for it. Even if it's a little late to put up your bio, you could find folks with similar interests to "subscribe" to.

On DW you have the option to give people "access" and to "subscribe" -- it splits the function of friending that LJ has. Just because of the status of my relations on LJ and the fact that I don't tend to lock anything, I usually end up giving everyone both. That being said, I can feel free to subscribe to anything without implying that I want to be BFF with this new person ;-)

Feel free to ping me if you've got questions!