@Jeffro - No, I generally don't do video. I read, not watch. Actually, making a video tutorial is a very good way to have me ignore you. :D

And this video didn't really answer my question. Yes, it adds activity streams, forums, and friending and such. Okay, but what are those? What do those do for you? How do they work? Where's the technical documentation on how I can use them? Why do I want them in my "community"?

BuddyPress just strikes me as poorly documented and I have no idea why I'd use any of it instead of using other pieces to build what I wanted. If I wanted to make a forum, for example, I wouldn't even think of BuddyPress. I didn't even know it had forums in it until just now.

It's like they are assuming I just know what they're talking about with these terms, when I have no idea what those terms even mean in the given context. Like "Friends" with WordPress? That doesn't even begin to make the slightest bit of sense to me. I know what "friends" are on Facebook and similar, but I don't see how that applies to WordPress at all.

I grant you that it is entirely possible that I don't get it because I lack any sort of valid use case for it. This is most likely.