It's not unusual for strangers to just walk up and say "Hi" in SL.
This should not be cause for alarm, but there's a right and wrong way to greet someone. As SL matures for business and educational users, real-world norms are coming in-world.
- Never friend someone you've not spoken to. Introduce yourself properly and ask permission
- Do not bombard folks with multiple IMs if they do not answer you. It's best to ask something like "if you are not busy, I have a quick question"
- In Chat, listen more than you type. And check your typing for mistakes. The most serious SL residents are very literate. They might use the stray "ROFL" or "^_^" but mostly they'll talk in pretty good English (or Spanish or French or Portuguese or Korean)
- In voice, you may be asked to mute your mic if you are a participant at a big event with a speaker. This is not a rude request. In small groups, you just chat as you would during a conference call
- Some profesionals who run shops or work for corporations get TONS of IM. For these folks it's best to leave a notecard, in case you are requesting an interview
- Most social niceties of RL meetings apply. I think it best to dress casually if your avatar will meet someone you don't know. Lots of SL residents run about barely dressed, but keep in mind that even as an avatar who might be a dragon or golf-playing bananna (former students have appeared as both), you represent Richmond in-world. In the picture below, I am sitting next to AJ Brooks, the avatar (in a suit and shades) for a faculty member at Montclair State. He's leading about 20 of us in an open chat for a weekly meeting of educators who teach with SL. Iggy is, stupidly, staring at the floor. Slacker!
- Believe it or not, we all introduced outselves and kept basic track of who we were. The trick was to open the "local chat" tab after clicking the "commuicate" button. We could then scroll back to earlier chat messages so we didn't miss any points made in the talk.