So you spend hours customizing the look of your Facebook profile?

Well, getting your avatar's profile in SL looking good will not take nearly that long. Profiles serve a few purposes beyond obviously social ones:

• Give others quick access to your favorite locations
• Tell strangers interested in SL's adult content to look elsewhere
• Let veteran residents know that you are serious enough about the metaverse to be worth their while.

Most long-term SL residents have well crafted profiles.  Take a little time to look then over.  Here are a few tips for "pimping" your own.

Begin the process by right-clicking your avatar and choosing "profile" or by using the edit menu's profile option (shown).

• Photo: It's good practice to have a photo of your avatar (though I do not put real-life photos of me in my "first life" tab).  Note carefully one technical detail. SL likes photos that are based on a certain scale.  I recommend opening the snapshot you wish to use for your profile in a photo-editor and cropping it to 512x512 pixels if you upload it (each file uploaded costs 10L).  If you make a snapshot inside SL, this will also cost you 10L, but it will usually paste right into your profile.
• First Life: Do not reveal real life information. I do so with my avatar because Iggy is used for work and for writing. This is not social networking, and SL's greater anonymity can increase the potential for abuse.
• How to pick a photo: Whatever method you choose for getting your picture, once it is in your inventory, just click the image in the profile, then look for the snapshot you wish to use in the inventory window that will appear.

Other Profile Options: I will let you play with these as you explore SL.  For class, the ones that will be useful are the main tab "Second Life," "Picks" (you and have several), and "Interests" (very useful when you want to discover which languages a stranger can speak).

Scavenger Hunt Bonus: 50L to the first student to pimp his or her profile with a snapshot, one or more picks, and something on the interests tab. IM me in-world that you've pimped your profile--no snapshot needed this time.