@DJPaul, thanks for the feedback and the info you offer. My basics:
1. wpmu 2.8.4a
2. subdomain
3. n/a
4. upgraded WPMU regularly since 2.7
5. Was WPMU functioning properly before installing/upgrading BuddyPress? yes
6. BP 1.1.1
7. Did you upgraded from a previous version of BP? last week when the current version was released.
8. Do you have any plugins other than BuddyPress installed and activated? Yes, 2 were activated on the main admin when and since this has occured:
a. Group Forum Subscription for BuddyPress
b. BP Groupblog
In mu-plugins directory:
akismet-credit-inserter
akismet
sitewide-tags
wordpressmu-favicon
9. Are you using the standard BuddyPress themes or customized themes? Standard
10. Have you modified the core files in any way? No
11. Do you have any custom functions in bp-custom.php? No
12. If running bbPress, which version? Or did your BuddyPress install come with a copy of bbPress built-in? Using built-in bbPress
13. The errors that occurred during the period these member place holders ’empty’ were created are at the link. The IDs # were different. With bp-groupblog activated this error is generated any time any group is visited (the group doesn’t need to have a groupblog). Prior to this ‘event’, Groupblogs were activated when members joined other groups without any ’empty’ members being added to the group:
https://wordpress.org/support/topic/319417
Some blogs (not home blog) have feedwordpress plugin activated. It’s use generates errors/warnings. The ‘Failed to fetch’ started yesterday and the plugin is no longer functioning. Neither of these errors are logged around the time the ’empty’ members were added to groups:
[20-Oct-2009 17:15:32] PHP Warning: Illegal offset type in /home/xxxx/public_html/wp-includes/rss.php on line 1459
[20-Oct-2009 17:34:20] MagpieRSS: Failed to fetch (HTTP Error: <url> malforme)