Avatars United, the social networking site purchased by Linden Labs less than a year ago, officially closed today. With the close came promises of integrating social networking capabilities directly into the Second Life experience. But who really knows what that means, right?

Avatars United may be closed, but it has really opened the doors for other sites like it. There are still a variety of Second Life based social networking sites such as SLProfiles.com, LinkedPrim.com and my personal favorite, 2ndHub.com. Then of course, there’s the general social networking sites like Plurk, Twitter, Facebook and more.

While 2ndHub is very different from Avatars United, it does offer the social network experience you were probably looking for. Check out some of the features currently offered:

• New & exciting social-networking features that are integrated with SL!
• Multiple profile types for individuals as well as for SL businesses or groups, which are also linked to each other.
• Blogging, posting, micro-blogging and comments built in.
• Easy friending helps you stay in touch and share.
• Unlimited update groups that can be linked to personal or business profiles, with in-world notices and attachments!
• Flickr integration! If you choose, your most recent flickr uploads will show as small images right on your profile along with a link to your flickr page!
• A special business directory as well as a people directory.
• Some of the current web-enabled tools include SL update groups, subscribers, delivery servers and soon our greeters w/traffic info.
• Many more features that aren’t listed here…
• …and we will be offering more features & web-enabled tools in the weeks & months to come. This is just the beginning!

I’ve been a user of 2ndHub.com almost since its creation about 6 months ago. I can’t tell you how many incredible people I’ve met and forged friendships and even business relationships with. It’s an incredible social tool for Second Life.