How Do We Re-Invent Second Life Smalltalk?

What's a good ice breaker for your random encounter with a Second Life stranger?  You can't really comment on the weather, which is artificially controlled.  For that matter, Quaintly Tuquri of Quaint n' Icy writes, "you can't ask each other about work, because not everyone in SL has an SL job. And you can't ask where they're from, because it's not like anybody will know the different SL regions."  Which leads to the inevitable:  "We ask about real life." Which isn't always ideal in her case, as she lives in Malaysia, and the points of reference are bound to often differ.  "I think that if we're going to socialize in SL but don't want it to spill over into RL," she argues, "we need some different socializing strategies."  She's open to suggestions.  Whatever you do, just don't talk like this guy.

Comments

[Eggy Lippmann]

I generally like to comment on their avatar, if it's good looking :)
And there's always current events, people's inworld hobbies. You would be amazed at the amount of little pastimes people come up with.

[Kitten Lulu]

What about Second Life's troubles of the week? Asset server issues, avatar rendering issues, transacion issues... not a single week goes by without some kind of itches, it's almost as constant as bad weather and as predictable. It also has the same potential as a small talk source...

[kesseret]

I'd have to say that the grid troubles always have been considered 'what's the weather like' talk to me.

Course, there's been more of it most recently so it's turned to a daily conversation piece for me.

[Vidal Tripsa]

Oh, I do like to discuss weather. It's the best way to break the ice on an RCAF meeting, anyway. Hang out by the runway at an aerodrome long enough and you'll meet dozens of people keen to know how the lag weather is.

It would be nice to have more geographical awareness on the Grid, though. If someone asks where I'm from, I'll say Extropia, which is hardly the most widely-known of places to have come from. Fair dos. But when I'm asked "no, originally", I'll say Jeogeot. Blankness often ensues.

[Torley Lives]

Asking where someone's explored and enjoyed is almost always a hit. It's turned me on to 100s of places to visit. Similar variants are "What's the kewlest thing you've bought recently?" and "What's the most amazing thing you've seen in Second Life today?"

People love to share about their valuable experiences.

[Galilla]

I love to ask folks I just meet where they've explored. I've gotten great tips and also have given some.

One thing that annoys me is people I just meet ask me to take their profile pic after seeing mine and finding out that I took it myself. You shouldn't ask favors of people you have chated with for 5 minutes or less!

[Gahum Riptide]

If someone owns land, I usually comment on whatever they've built. Even if I don't find it attractive, I'll at least say "That's an interesting build you've got". It's sort of a neutral question and I always get a response.

Lately as I've been using my SL time to work on my own build, my neighbors have come up to me to chat, usually remarking on my build, or asking if I'd help determine if their trees are overhanging my parcel. I actually got into an interesting chat with my neighbor after that opening.

I tend to talk to groups of avatars outside of their own builds rather than one on one because it's easier to just listen to conversation, and then pick up from there.

[Mitch Wagner]

Actually, I'd be fascinated to talk about Malaysia.

[CyFishy Traveler]

There's also "where did you get those shoes?" kind of small talk, which, in SL, can expand to thinks like "Where did you get that skin? Where did you get that hair? Where did you get those wings?"

Complimenting an avatar is much like complimenting an outfit, since it's what you've assembled, or even created, rather than what genetics dealt you.

[Quaintly Tuqiri]

@Eggy: If it's a female to female complement, that's fine, but if it's a male complementing a female, lots of times the female suspects it's a prelude to a come-on... just sayin'.

@Mitch: But that's exactly what I mean! That's RL! lol

@CyFishy: I do that too, but I always wonder if some avatars might not want to reveal where they got their clothes, skin or hair since they might not want others trying to duplicate their look. These days I just inspect prims :P (but of course you can't do that for skins)

[Melissa Yeuxdoux]

Second Life Smalltalk? I thought that was Croquet...

Seriously, that can be difficult. Sometimes I peek at people's profiles to get an idea of what interests them, in hopes of finding a common interest--a definite advantage of SL over RL for striking up a conversation. Clothing, hair, shoes, and where to find the good stuff is always a topic for discussion in SL, in view of all the blogs on the subject.

[Two Worlds]

Methinks "we need to invent better Second Life small talk" is a more subtle, "optimistic" way of saying "Most people in Second Life have problems socializing and talking to people"

Keyboard kourage does wonders, believe me.