How to NOT make friends

[Caitlin Tobias]

So, tonight I was enjoying the music at Franks, dancing and in meanwhile doing some photoshopping, when I heard my IM sound. I hoped it was a nice man to ask me for a dance, but this is how the conversation went (I had never met this person before, and have removed his name for obvious reasons):

[15:56] Stranger : hello
[15:56] Stranger: hope u are doin well
[15:57] Stranger: i live in city of tulips too
[15:57] Stranger: it is callled anemon here
[16:00] Caitlin Tobias: well that's nice :)
[16:01] Stranger: Tulips were stolen from us before first world war
[16:01] Stranger: orgin of tulips is Turkey
[16:01] Stranger: maybe u dont know?
[16:02] Caitlin Tobias: Yes I know that, but I wouldn't call it stealing...I am sorry?

 

I am unsure if I got trolled or godwinned, but this is one of the weirdest conversation starters I have had.
(Yes, I am glad he brought up the Tulips, I am aware - with the Dutch history - it could have been worse!).

Oh and he left.

 

[JamesKisson]

LMAO!!!  It could be worse...you could be a gay man like me....every conversation starts with...

"Hi."

Yup...that's it, you of course respond with a complete sentence like "Hello, how are you...nice evening," then there are 5 awkward minutes of silence while they *HI SPAM* the rest of the crowd, well sometimes you get that pathetic look and then you get a true conversation starter such as....

"Nice avi."

Now all of that translated in gay speak- means...

"I can't type, I am probably underage, I really don't want to know you and would you take me to the nearest pose ball or menu and mash my pixels. I can type omg..oooh ahhh oooo."

Such is the way of SL...at least you got to talk about flowers. *grins*  The abiluty to converse with people able to write in complete sentences as themselves, let alone RP is servely lacking.

I demand menus and pose balls where the player's avi MUST TYPE at least 10 words before it will activate!

 

[Pamela Galli]

Profile tips for not making friends:

 

* Keep your profile as blank as possible but never IM anyone else. Wait for them to IM you.

 

* Add threats of violence to your profile.

 

* Talk about how shy you are so others understand you are not going to hold up your end of any conversation.

 

* Make it clear that you expect to be loved for who you are, and expect devotion, even if you are kind of a jerk.

[LlazarusLlong]

If we got turkeys from America, how come we named them after a country that bridges Europe and Asia?

Or was it the Americans, with their well-honed geographical skills?

[You're from Wales? Isn't that a town near London, England?]

[LlazarusLlong]

---

Pamela Galli wrote:

Profile tips for not making friends:

 

* Keep your profile as blank as possible but never IM anyone else. Wait for them to IM you.

 

* Add threats of violence to your profile.

 

* Talk about how shy you are so others understand you are not going to hold up your end of any conversation.

 

* Make it clear that you expect to be loved for who you are, and expect devotion, even if you are kind of a jerk.

 

* Explain that you can only communicate in the Hértevin language

 

* Admit that you are a serial adulterer and congenital liar.

 

---

Not so much FIFY! as augmented and enhanced; perhaps others might like to make their own suggested additions.

[LlazarusLlong]

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JamesKisson wrote:

LMAO!!!  It could be worse...you could be a gay man like me....every conversation starts with...

"Hi."

---

Erm . . . I don't think your sexual orientation has anything to do with the semi-literacy of most players, as most of the uninvited salutations I receive say "Hi". I blame Lindal Kidd, who used to teach people in her classes that if you had nothing interesting to say, say it anyway. That also explains the state of the forums generally.

My response is invariably: " 'lo ".

Which is entirely reasonable (it's an acceptable and well-known contraction of (Hel)lo, while also having the benefit that it's quick to type and the juxtaposition of juxtapositioning (yes, even deeper self-referential humour) can be interpreted as mildly amusing, allowing the benefit of the doubt to the protagonist by permitting them to demonstrate that they might have some perception and sense of the ridiculous which they could reveal by acknowledging the appropriate nature of my response.

Unfortunately (or not) it almost invariably produces the further response "???" although the number of question marks does tend to vary with the keyboard skills, slovenliness, or state of intoxication of the typist. I can then ignore them, as I can those who are so perplexed by my answer that they lose the will to converse further.

[While i am posting, might I mention that I have a gay friend who plays a Gorean male inworld; he seem to find this less contradictorily confusing than I do.]

[SarahCooney]

They start by saying "Hi" to you? You don't know how good you've got it! Some men seem to think a good way to get me into bed is to wordlessly hop onto a nearby poseball and start humping the air next to me. After 5 minutes of being ignored I usually get a PM containing such smooth chat up lines as "nice ass" and "get on poseball".

Who said romance was dead?

[LlazarusLlong]

---

SarahCooney wrote:

 

Who said romance was dead?

---

Most historiolinguistic researchers actually.

[Ren Toxx]

I’ve had my share of weird conversation starters, though none quite like that yet.

Yours, though, has made me think of how some socially challenged individuals may either behave normally or, if they’re simply of the “too shy to speak” kind, once they decide to take others’s suggestions to “charge ahead” a bit too enthusiastically.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

---

LlazarusLlong wrote:

If we got turkeys from America, how come we named them after a country that bridges Europe and Asia?

Or was it the Americans, with their well-honed geographical skills?

[You're from Wales? Isn't that a town near London, England?]

---

The etomology of the word 'turkey' for the large American wild fowl reveals that it was actually the English that named the bird Turkey in the 1550's.  That was 200 years more or less before any residents of the colonies started to self indentify as American.  That happened, as we all know, due to the shabby treatment and gross exploitation that the colonists received at the hands of England which led to the Declaration of Independence.  :smileywink:

[LlazarusLlong]

---

Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

 

The 

etomology

of the word 'turkey' for the large American wild fowl reveals that it was actually the English that named the bird Turkey in the 1550's.  That was 200 years more or less before any residents of the colonies started to self indentify as American.  That happened, as we all know, due to the shabby treatment and gross exploitation that the colonists received at the hands of England which led to the Declaration of Independence.  :smileywink:

---

Those English ***bleeps*** eh! I don't know why we ever allowed them on to our island. I suppose it must have been because we were too busy writing obscure poetry. I am glad, though, that we encouraged the more boring of their religious fanatics to sail off westwards, taking male netball with them. I am disappointed in the way that they have nancied up rugby though - helmets and shoulder pads, really!

[i love that you have misspelled etymology, by the way; I presume it was intentional...]

[Eleanor Ocheis]

How not to make friends (female version)

-Be openly asexual. No guy will talk to you for more than 5 minutes.

-Be openly asexual on a furry avatar. No one will talk to you beyond finding that out.

-Be open about not wanting cybersex.

 

Pretty much scares off most people from wanting to know much about me *facepalm*

[Amber Seorn]

"Talk about how shy you are so others understand you are not going to hold up your end of any conversation."

 

That's a bad thing? I mention I'm shy in that I'm unlikely going to IM anyone first, but I'm super friendly and talkative after that. I just can't make the first move. Should I tale that out of my profile?

[Pamela Galli]

IMO, yes. You are saying that someone else has to put himself out there, someone else has to make the first move, someone else has to take a risk, but not you. Why not you? What is special about you?

 

But if its working for you, go for it.

 

more Special Snowflake Syndrome, IMO.

[Amber Seorn]

More like social anxity syndrome......... :matte-motes-not-entertained:

[Pamela Galli]

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Amber Seorn wrote:

More like social anxity syndrome......... :matte-motes-not-entertained:

---

You can call it, and a number of other things, whatever you like; the question is, I believe, what you can put in your profile to either attract or repel others.  Depressed? Have social anxiety? Put that in your profile, sit back and wait and see how many IMs it attracts.

Or put something that shows the breadth of things that interest you, and see what happens.  

Many have found SL to be a place where they can ditch labels and RP being who they really want to be. It is a fantastic opportunity for those willing to take responsibility for their lives, rather than waiting for someone else to do it for them. It's totally up to you.

[Nagumi Yazimoto]

Yeah, people from Turkey are an issue. Same with Russians you will see on every ban list.