Finding groups and the "closed membership" barrier

[Rikisabu Norwood]

When I first came on SL in 2008 I tried looking for interesting groups, but the only ones I could find were "invite only."

So I wonder, how do people go about joining groups? "Invite only" or "closed membership" is my biggest barrier. Since I came back to SL in 2011, there are a few open groups I joined recently but they're not too active.

Also, as for the saying "if you can't find a group, then make one", who would join a group I created, especially if I have no land associated with the group? I would need connections or land first. So there seems to be a vicious circle here...

[Dante Tucker]

Owners are listed in bold. IM them

[Monti Messmer]

This is even more funny when you get bombed with group-invites on enter a shop or club ... from bots but the group is invite only :smileysurprised:

[Rolig Loon]

You don't need land to form a group. All you need is L$100 and a friend. An alt is even better.  Then you start doing interesting things (sponsor an event, organize a hunt, ....) that appeal to like-minded people. 

[Ticious Trottier]

Rather than searching for groups, perhaps you should search for the events or the sims where the members of those groups hang out.  Whether this makes sense, of course, depends on what your interests are, the sort of folks you're looking to meet up with and the sort of things you're looking to do.  In any case, the destination guide and the events list seem like they'd be a better starting place than groups.

As for the reason for the "closed membership" barrier, at least in some (many?) cases, there's a good reason for that.  Panhandlers who join open groups for no purpose other than to spam them for "loans".  Very annoying. 

[Rikisabu Norwood]

 

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Ticious Trottier wrote:

Rather than searching for groups, perhaps you should search for the events or the sims where the members of those groups hang out.  Whether this makes sense, of course, depends on what your interests are, the sort of folks you're looking to meet up with and the sort of things you're looking to do.  In any case, the destination guide and the events list seem like they'd be a better starting place than groups.

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Finding different places to go and meeting people there seem to be the best solutions to look for a group.

It's better now in 2011 with clubs being easier to find, and people being more open in general. Unfortunately in 2008 I ran into the catch 22 where several places and events I found were restricted to group members only; that was the last nail in the coffin for me.

[Kelli May]

Some groups are closed because the owners want to 'vet' any prospective members. It's not unusual behaviour - we do it in RL all the time. If they want new members, they really ought to list some contacts in the group description so prospects know who to IM for an invite. That's how I used to handle membership for a group I formed. If they don't, you can try contacting the group owners - as Dante mentioned, their names will be listed in bold.

Occasionally a group just doesn't want any more members. It might sound interesting to an outsider, but it was set up for a closed circle of people and a specific reason. 

Because it does only cost L$100 (plus another member or an alt) to form a group, there are many inactive groups out there. I've never found groups a great way of getting in touch with people; it's much better to look for places where people with that interest might meet. Apart from getting extra land for my tier, I've only found two ways groups have helped me.

First, they are good way to spread information relevant to the group. Group notices, proposals, items sent out to group members, and if the membership likes to participate, chat over the group channel. 

Second, groups visible in your profile can be a good ice-breaker when you meet people. Sometimes people will ask stuff like "What the hell is 'Pirate Farm' all about?" or "I'd never have thought someone like you would be into Samurai Archery" or as aimple as "So you like Sub Aqua Hang-gliding too, huh?". They can warn people off too - if you see a profile filled with groups you find distasteful, you can probably draw some conclusions about the how much you'll like the person.