I’ve been on SL for over two years and it remains one of my favorite pastimes. However, I live alone in a remote area with a blazing fast internet connection. Therefore, SL is a social outlet for me. The area in which I live is largely populated with uneducated, white supremacist types…
Yes, designing your avatar takes time and can be frustrating. I am even considering setting up a ‘consulting agency’ which would be free to new users, to help design their avatar and give some initial guidance.
There are a number of video tutorials which can be found on iTunes and YouTube.
Personally, I have found SL fascinating and quite a learning experience. Since you are anonymous, you can have very intimate conversations with people about various aspects of their life and your life. One area I have found extremely interesting is bisexuality. I have never really had such frank conversations with bisexuals, and how that sexual orientation manifests itself and how they manage in Real Life.
Also, I have actually ‘fallen in love’. Granted you are communicating via an avatar, however that avatar is actually another human being. In SL, if you are looking for an emotional connection, it is not hard to find. In essence, you are meeting someone’s personality. And it can be very fulfilling because you can relate to the other person on a very deep level and are not constricted by geography.
However, there are pitfalls to “blending” your real life emotions into SL. On the whole though, I have learned a lot about myself, my place in society, and my ability to love. For me, I very much value how much SL has allowed me to expand in this manner.
There is a lot of Adult content on SL, which some may find very offensive. So be prepared for that. But SL also has thousands of Groups for people with similar interests. And all of the content on SL is created by the SL residents. Some of it is spectacular, some very talented creative people have spent a tremendous amount of time to entertain you with their imagination.
A good resource to start is http://www.avastar.com, an online magazine about Second Life.