How do I learn what to do?

[Alwin Alcott]

Welcome in your Second Life

at the top of this screen you see What is Second Life

start with a look there.

If you want do more.. start hopping around, use the search for finding your interests, experience and really doing things will be the best teaching. Don't be shy and try talk to people, you'll see soon it's like rl...some are open ,others more on their own ...make friends.. find cool places to stay

Also at youtube and several blogs you can find a lot about this virtual world

[Alwin Alcott]

Welcome in your Second Life

at the top of this screen you see What is Second Life

start with a look there.

If you want do more.. start hopping around, use the search for finding your interests, experience and really doing things will be the best teaching. Don't be shy and try talk to people, you'll see soon it's like rl...some are open ,others more on their own ...make friends.. find cool places to stay

Also at youtube and several blogs you can find a lot about this virtual world

[Rhonda Huntress]

Hello, Katt

First things first, you need to download the viewer to actually log on to Second Life.  Linden Lab has their official client and it is OK, but the most popular viewer client is Firestorm. 

http://www.firestormviewer.org/downloads/

Pick either one.  They do the same things but are laid out differently.  Many people find Firestorm better and in truth it is made by fans and SL users rather than code monkeys at Linden Lab.  I prefer the official viewer and am well aware most people think I am nuts. So ... I recommend Firestorm even tho I don't use it. 

Moving on.

Once you get in world there will be a small tutorial to help you with the very basics.  How to move, select objects, chat, etc.  Take your time, learn the controls, do not accept anything someone else gives you.  I don't think you will have any problem but unfortunately there are always dorks no matter where you go in life, either 1st life or 2nd.

The next step is to make a list of things you are interested in.  What would you look in google if you had some time to kill?  Current movies?  Sports? Sewing? Sci-fi? Dungeons and Dragons?  Cult of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?  You can use search in world to find groups that have similar interests as you.  These groups are the best places to meet people from all around the world.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Welcome to SL, Katt!

Read these, and don't let Second Life's learning curve scare you off...
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Second-Life-Quickstart/ta-p/1087919
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Second-Life-User-s-Guide/ta-p/1244857
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Controlling-your-avatar-s-appearance/ta-p/...
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Opening-boxes/ta-p/700185
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Troubleshooting-avatar-appearance/ta-p/125...

Start with the Quick Start guide (first link).

Eventually, you may want to spend some money here, so I'll answer that question before you ask it...

The easiest way to obtain L$ is to purchase them on the LindeX. That will require that you have an acceptable payment method on file. You can learn more about that here...
https://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Billing/ta-p/700037

There are ways to "earn" small amounts of money in-world, you can learn more about that here...
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/How_to_Earn_Linden_Dollars_in_Second_Life

Linden Lab's gambling game policies have changed since the creation of that page, so some of the ideas may no longer be allowed. Somewhere on that page it says that people have earned large sums of Lindens by playing games. That may be true, but I imagine those people expended extraordinary amounts of time to do so. And that brings up the concept of "opportunity cost". If you have absolutely nothing else to do, or get pleasure from finding pennies, then go ahead.

There are still some money trees around SL, though many of them only pay to residents 45 days old or younger.

It's also possible to do quite a bit in SL without ever having money. You can find free clothing all around SL and in the marketplace, and that could keep you busy dressing up for quite some time. The biggest expense for most people here is for maintaining a "home". If you don't mind being a wanderer (like me!), you can avoid that expense. Your avatar vanishes when you log out, so there's no need to worry about parking it in some special place when you leave.

Have fun!

[Nalates Urriah]

Wow... no one mentioned YouTube. There are loads of Second Life Tutorials on YouTube. Second Life has its own channel on YouTube.

Google Second Life Tutorials. When the results come up, look in the menu and select Search Tools. Then just below that menu row you will see a choice labeled Any Time. Change that to Past Year to get the latest tutorials.

For adult stuff, the questions you don't to ask publicly, search in-word for adult. You'll find people to help.

In the landing hubs you will find a lot of pranksters and trolls. Once you move beyond those SL is a nice place. Unfortunately, the trolls get the most publicity. 

Look for 1920's Berlin and Firestorm Support in SL. In both of those groups and places you will find helpful people. There are many support groups in SL. Lots of helping people here.