There are many different ways in which avatars can communicate in Second Life. We can distinguish between:
- public and private
- text and voice
- all vs groups versus one-to-one
- SL groups versus ad hoc groups
- features that are part of the SL regular communication features or other tools and settings (parcel settings, sky tables, etc)
It is important to know which possibilities exists and when to use them whether you hold staff meetings in SL, do training or give lessons.
In order to be able to easily communicate with others, it is good (and sometimes necessary) to befriend them first so that they are in your friends list. It is also possible to IM (instant message) or call avatars who are not in your friends list by searching for them but there are limitations when it comes to group chat as an example.
How to add someone as a friend:
Here is a series of video tutorials on the different ways that avatars can communicate in Second Life.
I know there are already many Second Life video tutorials but often they don’t show exactly what I want, so I have started to create my own. I have created these for a teacher training course which I am doing at the moment.
I usually don’t use a script when doing these tutorials, so you might here the occasional “er” and other mistakes. Live with it! 🙂 I am not going to record them again so soon.
SL Communication 1 – Public Text & Voice Chat:
SL Communication 2 – Private Text Chat:
SL Communication 3 – Private Voice Chat:
SL Communication 4 – Group Chat:
SL Communcation 5 – Ad Hoc Group Creation & Friends Conference:
SL Communication 6 – Parcel Voice Settings:
SL Communication 7 – Sky Tables:
You can buy the Sky Tables online here or in the in-world shop.