How do I add someone to my Contacts list?

I'd like to add a friend to my Contacts list.

There are several ways to do this:

• If you're near them inworld, just right-click their avatar and select Add Friend.
• If you're not near them or if they're offline, click the Communicate button at the bottom of the Second Life window and click the Contacts tab. Then click the Add button to open a search window where you can type in your friend's name.
• You can also find them in Search:
  1. Click the Search button.
  2. Click the People tab.
  3. Type the Resident's name.
  4. Select them in the search results.
  5. Finally, click the Add Friend button.

When you add a friend, an Add Friend window comes up which allows you to enter a custom message. Use this to explain why you'd like to be friends, or a reminder of how you know each other.

Once a friendship offer is accepted, the Resident's name will appear in your Contacts list, and your name will appear in theirs. All friendships are bidirectional, meaning if you delete a friend, they'll no longer see you in their list, either.

To simply give another Resident your calling card without adding them to your Contacts list, right-click their avatar and select More > Give Card. Calling cards appear in your inventory in the Calling Cards folder, and can be double-clicked to open a Resident's profile, but their usefulness is limited compared to full-fledged friendship.

Of course, for even more friends in Second Life, refer your real-life friends!

Someone has offered friendship to me. How do I accept or decline?

When another Resident offers friendship to you, a blue dialog appears in the top-right corner of your screen.

Click Accept to add yourself to their friends list, and them to yours. They'll receive onscreen notification that their offer of friendship has been accepted.

Click Decline to cancel the offer. They'll received onscreen notification that their offer of friendship has been declined.

Video Tutorial

This visual aid covers much of the above, but was created before we added the ability to send a custom message when offering friendship.

Friendship Etiquette

Completing your profile and reading other residents' profile provides ample opportunity for conversation. If you get along well, feel free to offer friendship.

If you're using Second® Life Viewer 1.20 or later, you can click someone's name in the Communicate window's Local Chat tab or an IM tab to open their profile.

Since socializing is quite subjective, while this article teaches you how to use features, it can't make you popular. But if you're interested in unofficial, Resident-shared tips about that, see the SLetiquette page on the Second Life Wiki.