In real life, when your phone rings, you have the option to screen -- or check out who’s calling before you actually decide whether to answer the phone.

Well, when you’re standing in SL, chatting with another avatar, you can also do a little “screening” -- to see whether it’s someone you really want to be chatting with.

Screening Trick #2: Some Key Questions
So once you’ve said (or typed) your hellos to an avatar, and checked out their profile, what then? It’s a fact of life in SL that not all avatars are sparkling conversationalists. This is not to say that they’re uncommunicative in RL. It's more that having good chats in SL is kind of an art form -- it’s a little tricky to type coherent thoughts into that tiny Chat window.

It’s also possible that the avatar you’re trying to chat with might be too busy to talk.

So if you’re trying to chat up an avatar, and things are getting a bit stale, you might try these conversational gambits:

Ask what they like to do in SL. This gives you a great idea of what you subjects can talk to this avatar about. If they say they love shopping and chatting, for example, you probably won't get far asking them for building advice. It'd be far better to ask them if they can recommend a good place to buy something you are looking for, for example.

Ask how they got here. Wherever you are in SL, you can usually ask people how they found the sim you’re standing in. It might help the avatar you’re chatting with open up about who gave them the information, or how they were just flying around and bumped into it. If they’re a polite person, they might even ask how you found the sim.

Ask where they’ve been. It’s a great practice to ask the avatars you meet what cool sims they’ve visited in SL recently, or what their favorite sims are.

Not only will you get some great tips on places to visit, you’ll also likely get some good conversation going as you trade favorites.

Ask where they got stuff. If you’re looking for some great SL furniture, or a place to buy cool shoes, ask the avatars you meet if they know any good sources. Avatars are usually happy to share their favorite landmarks with each other, and give tips on good places to shop.

So . . . why are these questions useful for screening?

Well, the way an avatar handles simple questions like this will tell you a lot about them, and help you decide whether it’s a good idea to continue the interaction. If you float these queries by an avatar and get back a lot of one-syllable answers, don’t waste your time -- say goodbye and move on.

But if you’re chatting with a polite and courteous avatar, these questions should yield not only a bit of pleasant conversation, but also bring you (and them) some good information or tips.

Perhaps you’ll even make a new friend.