Well you already knew I was going to post here... so let's get to it.
I find that the majority of users of Second Life do not really tend to be within the same category as I am in terms of role-play. I mean considering the main reasons for most people being on there are either fashion, housing and escorting, I don't really fit in with any of those. The category that I find most suitable for me as a player on SL would have to be a role-player. I know the community isn't as popular as it should be, or could potentially be, but I understand why seeing as the sims have slowly been getting limited (for those who do not know: sims are land owned by others paid monthly to create a design/world in which they'd enjoy creating with whatever rules and regulations they have, similar to that of a forum). I amongst the many on my friends lists on the program are commonly around the same few sims here and there. So although the community is small it's not so small that you won't run into new people. There are always amazing people all over the place, you just have to know where to find them.
When I first joined SL I wasn't a very literate poster. In fact I was not that great at all. Role-play in itself at the time somewhat scared me (wow Nov gets scared?) when driving into a public scene because I always had that social anxiety, even online. So after creating a character and jumping into the RP scene, I had no guidance until I started observing others. Standing around as an observer and attempting to understand how others engaged in RP. From there, I sort of got the gist of it. Created a detailed background for my character and whilst on sim allowed them to develop. It was not easy, but I got the hang of it.
I have to thank SL for something it did do for me. It did give me the ability to type up a response much faster than I originally thought I could. In the beginning my posts were absolutely slow, took me almost 20 minutes to come up with at least two small paragraphs that I deemed decent enough to post publicly. But after that, I got so used to it, that now it only takes 5-10 minutes if anything to write up 3 scary paragraphs that may frighten others on sim, unless they're impressed and in which case, typically someone messages you if they are.
The other thing I have to give credit to SL for is their powerful creation system. This is probably what reeled me in -as you asked- in the first place. The fact that users can not only create practically any character they so desire and make them look almost identical to what they picture in their mind is amazing. I've had friends who have spent countless hours on their avatars and their work really does show. SL is very tedious when it comes down to it. Every skin, piece of make up, type of clothing and what the clothing is made out of counts as far as how high-quality you wish your character to be. I have been able to create such diverse characters on the program. Character's that I've seen only in my head but SL brings them physically to life. Altering their body shape, toning their skin, placing tattoo's and colouring their hair. To me it's just a really great design program. I find it helps a lot of people who cannot draw either, those who wish they could draw their characters but instead, create them on the program.
Now I'm rambling but...
Even though I started off extremely stubborn and awkward when I'd first been introduced (by a certain someone...ahem) but now I find there is a comfortable ground as long as I'm in the right place. As it stands right now, I wish there were sims that were available that were half-decent enough to go RP on. Open-world development is really nice and I wish to have that again. But for now, Blue Moon is my home and I find comfort there as well. I do like switching between both SL and BM. Both have taught me great things and helped me find good people who really care about development, storyline and their characters as a whole. They're both very different when it comes to approach but, I guess I like an even medium between them.
Like you Blissy, I wouldn't just give out my Second Life User without someone asking first and at least knowing they have similar intentions to my own. That being said if anyone ever wished to know it, they're free to message me about it.
Your support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)
