I only found one reference to this working now in some thread that had nothing to do with it. So in case you haven't looked (because it didn't work on RB 1 or RB 2)

So instead of trying to remember how to type a PSN ID like:
X1X3xDrUmM3rg0dX1X3x

to add to your friends list, you can now just go to "Players Met" on the XMB, find the name you want to request as a friend, hit triangle button and select "Add a Friend"

Zep--