Just as in your real life or on other social platforms, you can “friend” other avatars within Second Life. Some of the advantages of doing this are:
- They will show up in your Contacts list under Conversations, and you will be able to see whether or not they are currently online (their name will appear in bold at the top of the list if they are online).
- You can allow friends to find you on the map regardless of your location, and they can do the same for you.
- You can allow friends to modify your objects, and they can do the same for you.
- You can easily send messages to or start group conversations with many of your friends at once.
You should only request friendship from avatars you already know, or ones who you have spoken to enough to have developed a close relationship. It is always considered good etiquette to first ask the avatar in instant message (IM) if they want to be your friend, rather than just dropping a friend request on them without any warning.
How to friend someone
There are different ways that you can friend someone:
- Click the People button and look under the Nearby tab; right-click an avatar name, and choose “Add Friend”.
- Right-click on an avatar, and choose “Add Friend”.
- Click the Search button, go to the People tab, and type in the name of the avatar (or as much of it as you know), then press Enter. A list of names will appear below. If you see the one you are looking for, then right-click that name and choose “Add Friend”.
The other avatar will then need to accept your friend request. They will receive a pop-up request box at the top right of their screen, and will need to click “Accept”. Once this is done, the friendship is made.
IMPORTANT: Make sure the other person knows you’ve sent the request, so that they don’t miss the pop-up message, which can easily be hidden behind other windows, and which also disappears after 30 seconds. If they do miss the pop-up, then they can look in the Conversations window and find the request in the form of an IM (instant message) from you, and they can click the Accept button there.
Conversely, if someone tries to add you as a friend, then you will see a pop-up request at the top right of your screen telling you someone wants to make friends with you, and you will need to click “Accept”. Also be sure to check your instant messages for friend requests that you may have missed.
What you can do after friending
Once you have friended someone (or they have friended you), you will see their name under the Contacts tab of the Conversations window. You can then highlight their name, and click one of the buttons along the right side of the Conversations window to do different tasks:
- IM/Call (to send them a private instant message)
- Profile (to see their profile)
- Teleport (to offer to teleport them to your location)
- Map (to see where they are on the grid, if they have allowed you to do that)
- Pay (to send them L$ from your account)
- Remove (to remove them as a friend)