How to make friends and join groups.

[MelonyGaming]

Im new and i dont know how to make friends or join groups and I started this topci because I wanna know how to do those things and for me its hard because I dont know how to do those things and I wanna make friends and not be the NOOB of the game so if someone could get back at me that would be fine and I would really appreciate it.

[Talligurl]

What sort of groups? Often there is a group joiner you click in stores and places.

 

[Penny Patton]

You can use SL's search engine to search for groups based on topics you're interested in. On the search page select Groups then type in a topic that interests you. Like "sail boating" or "Star Trek" or whatever. Click on the groups that come up to see their group profile, and at the bottom should be a "Join" button.

[Ricardo Skotadi]

One thing I and others rate highly when we consider offering friendship is a good profile. I note yours is still empty which is understandable as a newbie. But I'd recommend you work on it as a priority. Add a nice pic, keep it simple at first and build it up over time.   

[Nalates Urriah]

@MelonyGaming I did answer your IM. I also sent an in-world IM.

Talli and I both had the same question, what are you interested in? 

We could refer you to a group about fluid mechanics or one about adult activities... which in SL (Second Life) could be the same group. It gets REALLY complicated. Penny and I both suggested you use SL search to find those things of interest to you. Search can be filtered for groups, places, people, etc.

You put gaming in your name. I assume you like to game. It can be very confusing if you think SL is a game. SL is not a game... well... that is WAY debatable. But, there no score nor levels... It is a game if real life is a game. SL is a virtual world. There are games within SL... but after a time most residents of SL buy into the idea of SL not being a game as most computer games are games.

Meeting people... see someone you like... right-click on them and select IM. This gives you a direct and private conversation channel with that person. It is like walking up and talking to a stranger. You are likely to run into all the reactions you would in real life (RL). You can also walk up and just start typing in Local Chat. But, often there is so much scrolling through Local people stop paying attention. Avoid being surprised if the don't answer and don't take it personally. 

Ricardo is right about Profiles. I am an avid Profile reader. I want to know your interests and what languages you speak. Using a translator and avoiding idiom is tedious. Do you want to be considered male or female? Simple or complex gender ID? You can be anything you want. There are those without tolerance that will judge you no matter what you do but there are a load of tolerant people here that will allow you to be and do whatever. Don't push that idea too far. Your Profile description should, I think, be interesting, about you (not self aggrandizing), or funny. All three will work. You can change it as often as you want.

Go to the places where there are things or activities you like. Meet people there. The viewer has a Destinations button. It is movable so I can't swear where you'll find it but by default is in the upper right side. It starts out with categories. Pick one that interests you and go to all the places listed. The What's Hot category is all the places with about 25 people present. As regions get near capacity they drop out of this list to save people the annoying "region full" message and a failed TP.

SL is complicated just as RL is. All the variety of RL is here along with a lot that is not possible in RL. The viewer has about 3,000 controls, not to worry. You'll use a couple of dozen. But, there is a lot you can do and the more you want to do the more you need to learn. Then it is time for the YouTube tutorials.

[ArtsyFartsy321]

I've also had the same question, and while I have lots of interests, I'd also like to see if there's a list of public groups or topics/categories so I could join something that piques my interest.  Is there anything like that available?  I understand there's probably gazillions of groups, but is there any category structure to them?

[MoiraKathleen]

3 minutes ago, ArtsyFartsy321 said:

I've also had the same question, and while I have lots of interests, I'd also like to see if there's a list of public groups or topics/categories so I could join something that piques my interest.  Is there anything like that available?  I understand there's probably gazillions of groups, but is there any category structure to them?

While there is not - to my knowledge - any list of public groups, especially broken out by topics/categories - the Destination Guide does have category listings, and while it is a list of places, many of those places also have groups (often with group joiner info present at the landing point).  That is one way to find things that might pique your interest. 

The common way of finding groups for things you are interested in is to use the "search" function in the viewer and search "Groups" using search terms for topics of interest.