That's a definite TL;DR for people who just want to know what the bots are up to and how they're doing it.

That there are over nine thousand of them is hardly a surprise — anyone who's worked out how to make a dozen, say, can surely make a lot more. That Livejournal support sucks at dealing with the problem is sadly also not much of a surprise. Something written a lot more clearly that concentrated on the how and why would be useful.

It seems plausible to me, too, that they're hoping idiots will friend them back. So how are they creating the accounts? Have they hacked the captcha? Do they have a mechanical turk? Are they doing the trick where they proxy captcha solving through a porn site?