The assignment seemed simple enough: make five new friends in Second Life. Unfortunately, most people want nothing to do with me in the virtual world! Here are five people that gave me the time of day to be my friend.
FRIEND #1: Prudence
Prudence was building a house when I approached her. She later informed me that she is into western and Victorian-era islands in Second Life. I think her horse is pretty cool, too.
FRIEND #2: Summer
Summer was also building a house and liked to make liberal use of the smiley face, which made her seem very friendly. She said she was just in SL using the sandbox (that means a place where you can build).
FRIEND #3: Marr Ying
Marr Ying was standing alone in a sandbox area and was friendly enough to respond to me when I messaged her. She apparently has a shop, which she gave me a landmark to. I will have to check it out!
FRIEND #4: Aragon
Aragon really exceeded my expectations. I was a bit too direct with him and I thought he would run away from me. He turned out to be a really friendly little guy that talked quite a bit! He is into fantasy and I told him I like sci fi. Aragon then proceeded to give me a bunch of landmarks to Star Wars and Star Trek themed islands. How nice!
FRIEND #5: Serendipity
Serendipity was the only person who approached me...sort of. She commented on how long my name was. I took this opportunity to message her and ask her if everyone in this London themed island was indeed from London. She wasn't. I'm not. That was good enough for me.
Most people in Second Life want to be left alone and don't enjoy random strangers like me messaging them. All five of these people had something in common, however: they were all in sandbox islands. People who are building something like to talk about what they are doing. I used this approach on a couple of the people by complementing their nice buildings. The other people were just willing to talk to me because they were friendly...or not scared of my avatar.
