Best sim to meet others who are new to SL?

[raolaf]

What is the best place to go if I want to meet others, like myself, who are new to SL?

[Frawmusl]

Sandboxes and help areas usully contain a lot of new players

[valerie Inshan]

I would not recommend sandboxes. Unless you are premium and have access to premium ones, they are generally full of griefers. Rather try places such as NCI, Caledon or White Tiger. 

You may also do a search in the destination guide > newcomers friendly. See what fits you best there. And, welcome to Second Life! :smileyhappy:

[Madeline Blackbart]

I deffinatly agree witht he caledon suggestion. I remeber starting out there. There tutorial really gave me a head start in the game and the people who hang out there are generally really friendly folks! plus the classes there are awesome I still take the from time to time today!

[Alicia Sautereau]

It still exists
Will have to visit it some time again

[RiiCassidy]

If you want the truth, neither sandboxes or welcomecenters,info hubs will do ANYTHING for you. Infohubs are were a bunch or griefers go and troll new and older members. Sandboxes are just out of control, trust me. The best way to learn secondlife is to learn alone or with a friend you already know, but 8 out of 10 times that friend isn't as interested in secondlife as you are. So there you are alone, it can get boring but once you start to learn things and explore different places it gets fun. Now that you have your own home, and an updated avatar and basic to intermediate understanding of secondlife you can apply for a job, this is were you start meeting people. (Not saying this is the only way but being new in 2013 is one of the few choices, people are mean.) Personally i would get a job that pays, but if you really want to be social and have the time go and get a job that pays little or none. Get to know your boss, be funny with her/him and all the other staff and try to be as nice as possible, by now you actually really know about 10-12 people. Remember not everyone will like you though.

Or you could become a pornstar, they have lots of friends. (jk)

[Cetile]

The Builder's Brewery sim/group is a good place, as are the Linden Fish Hunt/Gold Hunt island and related groups. They both have lots of people, old and new to help you out and make friends with.

It largely depends on your interests, though, just search up what you're interested in and meeting new people will follow.

[Kara Trapdoor]

Personally I think some of the best ways to meet others in SL is to find large groups of people with like interests, such as:

-Go to a popular dance club like Club Ambrosia, Big Daddy's, or Club Zero or one with a style of music a person likes and don't be afraid to IM and talk with people. (Use search, although there are many places that are just empty all the time)

-Read people's profiles to get ideas about places others like and things that SL has to offer, even teleporting right from their profile pics if desired.

-Check the LL events calendar and go to some of those,  as often many people congregate for special events in areas that may not otherwise have a large group.

-Go to live music venues during peak event times such as The Roof on Mondays and Wednesday evenings when there are always a lot of pepople having fun, or Key West.

-Find the latest great sim explores off the destination guide features or editors pics. Some of the very nice sims to explore and dance in generally always have a lot of friendly people like in Tempura.

-Join groups that hold a lot of big events and have many members such as BOSL (The Best of Second Life), Fab Free, or some of the events groups.

-Participate in a big hunt like madpea hosts as it is a great way to see a lot of people and fun sims and have fun doing it.  

-Search for and find a sport or some hobby you like and join with a group such as a football team or cheerleading group.  Even if this sounds silly to a new person it really is a lot of fun.  Another fun one is the photohunt group for people who love to find new or very good explores and take pictures of them on Mondays during the day (I forget the time becuase I'm at work, but good for people in diff time zones) and also again Wednesday evenings.   Many of those groups make a lot of close friends who work and play together on things they enjoy.

-Google Second Life and read blogs-they often tell of great places and things in SL.

-Join a class to learn to build or take pictures or make things or model or get a job.  Some good starting points are Builder's Brewery, Katink pose shop, BOSL.  And many clubs are on the look out for good dependable eployees of all kinds from hots, hostesses, djs, security, etc.  This can lead to income and enhanced SL time as well as making good friends.

-There are some large "game" type sims such as Zombie hunting, combat areas, Star Wars etc. and some of those type of groups get close and form some large tight friendships.

-External social media sites also help enhance or develop SL friendships such as in Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc.

-There are also "alternative" lifestyle sims that get a lot of traffic and many form some very tight friendships there if that is your thing.

I've found people friendly overall and the best way to make friends is to just speak up, be kind and friendly, ask people for help, to dance, where they like to go and what they like to do, and if someone isn't helpful or friendly just move on to another area that you have an interest in.   

Places to avoid include sandboxes filled with griefers that can be confusing and frustrating to new people.  Some of the bigger freebie areas while serving a purpose are filled with vampires trying to bite all the time which also can catch a new person unaware.  (if a person WANTS to get bitten and be a vampire that is another huge area of contacts/freinds that can be developed) Newbie areas can also be a bit of a double edge sword for both of these reasons.   When I am in these places I try my best to help new people who seem to be trying hard to figure things out.  SL is very much what you make of it and how you chose to interact once you get the hang of it. It is different from RL in many ways since people tend to do and say things more readily than they might in RL due to anonymity but if much is forgiven of some people the good ones will remain and recognize your goodness and ability to be a good friend.

[MartinaVaslovik]

Just my .02,

DON'T BE SHY.

Look around, hang out in places, London City for example, and talk to people. Take the initiative if someone seems interesting to you, don't just sit there waiting for someone to IM you. The worst that can happen is they will block you, or grief you, heaven forbid, but then you can block them and move on, but by all means, just take the initiative and say hi to others. 

Many times nothing comes of it, but often enough you meet someone quite wonderful. I know I have, and I've been a loner most of my life, until I got into SL. Since I've lived where I am in RL, over two years, I've not had the social life and the friends I've made in just a week in SL!

Give it a try, you have nothing to lose! No one can really hurt you in SL, unless you let them, and how lame is that?