Social Traits: Friendly VS. Charismatic

[Signal]

I want to create a sim and I've already picked out 4 traits I want her to have, but I can't make up my mind on the last trait. I know I want it to be a social one, so I want it to be the "best" social trait out of all we can choose from.

From the traits article on Carl's web site, it sounds as if Charismatic and Friendly might be the most flexible in terms of their effect on the game, although I'm leaning towards Friendly because it specifically mentions the friendship bar goes up faster and that's what I mainly want.

Does anyone know all the specific differences between the Charismatic and Friendly traits? Does anyone have any suggestions? How about the other social traits (schmoozer, good sense of humor, flirty, etc.) - would any of them be better?

Any and all help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

[Seabody]

Welcome to the forum.

Charismatic increases the rate at which your sims learn charisma (doesn't it?), whereas, as you already mentioned, friendly makes it easier to gain friends.
Flirty makes your sim wish to flirt. And they will be good at it.
Good sense of humor makes sims excel at joke-telling. So sims will not tell the joke of: "Horse walks into a bar. Ouch.".
Schmoozers love to please - they make good workers, always telling their boss that their new shirt matches their 500-year-old nectar stain.
Nice and simple, is it not?

[Alexandria_]

I don't find the charismatic trait particularly useful unless you want them to learn the charisma skill faster.
Out of friendly and charismatic, I'd pick friendly because that way you make friends faster, and you can learn the charisma skill alongside it to really boost it.

I like to use the schmoozer trait, because it makes interactions (particularly schmooze, flatter, compliment, etc) increase the friend bar faster. I'm more likely to (and often do) use schmoozer rather than charismatic or friendly.

[Hosfac]

I'm also a fan of the Schmoozer trait.  Having it unlocks the "Flatter" friendly interaction, which not only gives a good moodlet to the recipient, it appears to make the relationship bar jump up a bit more than your standard interaction.

[samoht04]

Mik a Schmoozer with a Snob and Bamn, so easy.  Charismatic aids in the Charisma Skill which in turn is one of the best ways of making Friends. The Attractive reward also helps. 

[jeanamariex3]

Charismatic I think is up there with the handy, natural cook, artistic, athletic, and virtuoso trait, in the sense that they excel in learning those particular skills based on their traits. Friendly is more they make and keep friends more easily and for longer periods of time.

[RubyLovesSims]

Well, I know for sure that Charismatic gives a big boost in the associated skill, but Friendly helps the bar go up faster, as you said. Also, having a high Charisma skill also makes it easier to interact with other Sims. It defiantly goes both ways.

[Pam]

I usually lean more towards Charismatic.  It makes learning Charisma easier, which in turn makes it incredibly easy to make friends.  With high levels of Charisma, your Sim can become Good Friends with another Sim upon introduction.  It's also part of the Charisma skill challenges that prevent friendships from decaying without purchasing the Lifetime Happiness Reward.  The special Charismatic social interactions are nice, too.