A small change that could boost everyday socializing
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Anne Forbes
SL has changed over the years. Casual interaction used to be the default, but now it’s the exception, and most people hesitate to reach out unless they’re sure it’s welcome. Established residents usually have their friend groups, but newer people often struggle to fit in or know who’s open to chat.
Many residents are looking for simple, low‑key interaction, but SL mainly gives us tools to signal that we’re busy, like autorespond, unavailable, mute, and away. There’s no equivalent way to show that we’re open to interact.
It would be helpful if SL had a simple visual indicator to show when someone is open to chat. Maybe something in the profile, preferences, or even a small marker above the avatar that residents can turn on when they’re in the mood to interact.
A clear, universal signal like this could make everyday socializing feel less awkward and a lot more natural.
Thanks!
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Drake1 Nightfire
So, you want an indicator of some sort to show whether or not an individual is open to chatting? How about, oh I dont know, saying HI?
Just like in RL you actually have to talk to people to get to know them. Having a floater or spot in my profile that says "open to chat" is silly and a waste of coding. And if its optional, why bother in the first place?
Anne Forbes
Drake1 Nightfire Optional features don’t harm anyone who doesn’t want them, but they do make things smoother for people who prefer clearer boundaries. It’s simply a tool for reducing friction, not a mandate.
spirit Wingtips
i agree with much of what was already said my suggestion is in the same way we have "busy" "away" "unavailable" we can add a toggleable set of descriptors "available to chat" , "available to voice chat" perhaps in their own specific colors. perhaps a consideration for a brief message about NO harassment, abuse etc at the start of the conversation similar to how the AI characters have their notification could be added.
Anne Forbes
“Available” is a normal, neutral indicator across modern platforms.
Other platforms have neutral presence indicators and utilize nuanced presence states:
Steam has Online / Away / Busy / Looking to Play
VRChat has Online / Join Me / Ask Me / DND
Xbox/PlayStation have Joinable / Looking for Group
Slack/Teams has Available, Busy, Away, In a Meeting
FFXIV has Looking for Party, Mentor, Roleplaying, New Adventurer
The Sims has mood states, social need levels and social readiness indicators.
Second Life deviates from this trend by lacking similarly expressive or standardized presence indicators, making it an outlier in modern platform design.
KaiAraIndigo Resident
I've never changed the way I socialize in SL and I've been around since 2006. Mostly there are a lot of people I just do not enjoy or want to talk to. I'm not an "exclusive" kind of person but I am a small circle type of person. It has nothing to do with avatar appearance, or anything superficial. It does have to do with shared interests, and how a person comes off in their presentation.. which includes a profile, and if the profile comes off as less than interesting (or outright just not at all the type of person I am interested in chatting with) I will avoid chatting.
However, it is and has never been hard to just say "hi" to someone and come up with a simple question from someone's profile or lack of one, to break the ice with. Most people do not ever mind a genuine simple "hello". The issues it seems like you might be facing is avoiding is fearing rejection. Don't fear it.
People are choosy and some just aren't chatty and they like their lives just as they are. Just say "Hi" if you want to it's not the end of the world if 1 or even 100 don't engage back. You're not likely to see them again anyway, and they're not rejecting you.. they don't even know you. Just don't have the expectation that people in SL want to talk, and just say hi to anyone you might like to chat with. You'll find that it's far easier than you think, especially if you are genuine. Another thing to help you get chat started.. be willing to actually search out places you might find interesting, loads of people have many varied interests in SL and out. Try something new here that you could never do in the real world. Go surfing, sailing, ride a horse, take a walk in a pretty place. Then just say hi and ask a nearby person a question about what you're seeing. The only thing stopping you from chatting is you, and if someone doesn't reply, then they'd likely not be the kind of person you would like to chat with anyway, consider it a natural elimination of potential friends without the drama later on.
Anne Forbes
Some people, like me, tend to assume others are busy and avoid IMing out of courtesy. But that’s not universal, and it’s not something you can reliably read from profiles or avatar behavior. Everyone has different habits, different comfort levels, and different languages, so relying on profile text to signal “likes to chat” will always be inconsistent. A simple, optional availability indicator would give us a shared, neutral way to express openness without depending on assumptions or phrasing. It turns a personal tendency into a clear, universal signal.
Cooter Coorara
I interact like I do in RL. I say hello. Then I'll compliment them in some way. If I only get a grunt back, I know to leave them alone. If they respond with anything more than a thank you, it signals to me that they might like to converse. I hear where you're coming from, Anne, and I know people can often be shy. Why anyone is shy in SL is strange to me since we're all hiding behind masks.
Not to be a naysayer, but what is the default? On? Then if you don't want to be available, you it of? I do believe this function already exists.
Anne Forbes
Cooter Coorara Ty, Cooter. The idea isn’t to replace conversation or change how anyone interacts, just to offer a simple, optional state that fills the gap between “online” and “actually open to casual chat.” As for the default, it could work the same way “Busy” and “Away” do now with opt‑in, not forced, so it only shows when someone chooses to turn it on.
Rinaldo Debevec
Cooter Coorara I agree Cooter. Local chat is there for anyone to speak, and for anyone to listen, and the "art" of conversation is simple. Start a conversation in local chat ... and then continue it in local. If there are a lot of people present and the local chat is noisy, then take it to direct IM. Once you start talking to someone, it's pretty easy to judge whether they want to talk ... or not. SL has a "busy" setting (which I hardly ever use) which you can set to indicate that you don't want to talk with anyone right now.
Irishk9 Aeon
The only real way to know if your open to interact these days is when you find out you are through conversation. It depends on who your talking to at any time & what's being talked about.
Anne Forbes
Irishk9 Aeon We don’t have body language or any of the subtle cues that tell someone “it’s okay to approach,” so people fall back on their own habits.
Irishk9 Aeon
Anne Forbes You can say hi & see if a conversation happens. It will or it wont. If it does, it does, if it doesn't, you move on. Its not hard. If a conversation gets unacceptably salty, you mute & move on. Again, not hard once you've done it once or twice.
Anne Forbes
Irishk9 Aeon You are describing your comfort level, not the system. You are projecting your own views onto everyone else like it's universal. It isn't. You assume everyone in SL approaches SL the same way.
Assumptions matter, and every single person fills in the blanks differently. I'm addressing the 'blanks,' like most modern platforms are doing, but not SL.
A simple availability signal wouldn’t replace conversation; it would just reduce the guesswork so people aren’t relying on assumptions in the first place.
Irishk9 Aeon
Anne Forbes Its a fair point you make but I would say you are doing the same. So, I suppose there's room for many approaches, yours included.
Bound Harmony
I can only agree with this.
I am also relatively new to Second Life. Of course, checking profiles is part of basic etiquette, and people should do that. But in reality, many profiles are extremely long, or information is spread across multiple picks. Not everyone wants to read a full book before saying hello to someone.
I also understand that some residents do not want even more things displayed above avatars, and some people will always choose to hide visual elements. Still, there is another side to this.
Let us be honest. How often do people stand on a sim, especially female presenting avatars, and get flooded with unwanted messages. And on the other hand, how often do you stand somewhere half AFK, open to interaction, but nobody approaches because they are unsure if it is welcome.
For many of us, Second Life is part of our real daily life. But there is currently no simple, universal way to show your current social mood or availability, unless you use custom emotes, speech bubble tools, or external HUDs. I even considered building something like this myself for the Marketplace, but I am not a programmer or designer, and for something like this presentation matters.
That is why I really like the idea of a simple, optional indicator. Something like “open for interaction”, “open for talk”, or “in play mood” that can be set in profile or shown in a subtle, standardized way would make social interaction feel much more natural and less awkward.
Anne Forbes
Bound HarmonyGreat reply!
HoRnIvOrE Resident
People already do this by saying in their profile that they like to chat. End of discussion. I don’t like seeing text over avatars’ heads. I have it turned off including my groups indicator.
Anne Forbes
HoRnIvOrE Resident Some people write “likes to chat.”
Some assume it’s obvious.
Some think it’s unnecessary.
Some don’t speak English well enough to phrase it cleanly.
Some don’t read profiles at all.
Some have profiles that are 40‑paragraph autobiographies.
There’s no consistent signal in that mess.
A system that relies on everyone remembering to write the same phrase, in the same language, with the same meaning, is already broken.
Noadreams Resident
Upvoted, this is a great social boost needed, not just for new residents, older too. It is very hard to interact when a good proportion of the sl populace log in and stay online, while not actually present. The mobile users again, often do not see other chats.
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