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I saw an advertisement on the train that said 世界に友達を作りたい... My Japanese friend
said that the difference with "世界で友達を作りたい" is that で means like "In the world"
whilst に means "all over the world".

I get that に is sort of like a means of highlighting the way, direction,
actors and all that sort of indirect information of an action, and not
necessarily "to" as beginners are taught. So does that mean more like "the
world" is the place of the action, but the action is moving throughout it and
not restricted to on definite point like で would be?

SUMMARY: What is the nuance of the particle に here and are there any other
examples of such usage of に? I've heard Xにあふれる which is sort of like it I
feel.
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2014-02-24T01:43:40.733
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particles に-and-で
Strange usage of に particle
世界に友達を作りたい sounds to me like "I want friends in the world" (so the friends are
in the world and you could make these friends through the Internet; the result
of the action would be "I have friends in the world").  
世界で友達を作りたい sounds to me like you'd go to the world and make friends there.
(The 世界で modifies the action 友達を作る, so you'd do this action in the 世界, not
online.)  
(I would say 世界 **中** に友達を作りたい/世界 **中** で友達を作りたい to mean "all over the world")

Maaybe this is because... ~~に is used with the verbs like いる、ある、存在する、住む (to
be, to exist, to live), while ~~で is used with action verbs? So I think the
世界に indicates where these 友達 will be, and the 世界で indicates where the action
作る will take place.

世界に料理を食べたい sounds incorrect. 世界(中)で料理を食べたい (I want to eat dishes in the world
/ all over the world) is grammatically okay and would mean you'd go to the
world and eat the dishes there. (And 世界(中) **の** 料理を食べたい would mean you want
to try dishes from around the world, not necessarily by going there so you
could do this in foreign food restaurants in your country).

I think 大学に友達を作りたい is grammatically alright and would mean like you want
friends who are in college.

世界で友達を作りたい sounds perfectly alright to me.

* * *

"a few more examples" >>> How about...

> [財界]{ざいかい} / [政界]{せいかい} / [業界]{ぎょうかい} **に** (notで)コネを作る -- to have
> connections in the financial / political / business world  
>  自分の部屋 **に** (notで)テレビが欲しい。-- I want a TV in my room.  
>  Compare: 秋葉原 **で** (notに)テレビを買いたい。-- I want to buy a TV in Akihabara.  
>
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2014-02-24T07:32:44.367
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I agree with Chocolate's answer: で shows where you are when you perform the
action of making the friend, に shows where the result of the action ends up.

I believe this is described in Roy Miller's "Reference Grammar of Japanese",
but I have misplaced my copy. If you can find a copy of this I recommend it.

Other examples of に although not quite the same:

> フランスに留学していた。 I was an exchange student in France.  
>  野菜を水に[浸]{つ}(漬)けた。 I put the vegetables in water.  
>  あの人の家にお邪魔した。 I visited his house.  
>  街に噂を広めた。 I spread the gossip in town.  
>

Note that Roy Miller predates Martin. Martin mentions Miller in his
introduction.
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This is a supplementary answer to compliment Chocolate's answer, written to
meet the OP's request for technical reference.

に vs で is covered in "A Students' Guide to Japanese Grammar" by Naomi McGloin
on p62.

As Chocolate indicates and this book explains: で marks the location of action,
に marks the location of existence.

1) Some verbs characteristically take に, eg 住む、立つ、かける、座る：

> 椅子 **に** かけてください・座ってください。  
>  Please sit on the chair.

2) Some verbs take either に or で but the meaning changes:

> 家 **に** あります。  
>  It is in my house.
>
> 家 **で** あります。  
>  It will be held at my house. [ie an event, perhaps a party]

Or

> 田中さんのうち **で** 赤ちゃんが生まれた。  
>  The baby was born at the Tanaka's house.
>
> 田中さんのうち **に** 赤ちゃんが生まれた。  
>  A baby was born to the Tanaka family.

In this example, if we use で then the baby was not necessarily the Tanakas',
if we use に then the baby was not necessarily born at the Tanaka's house.

Another example, somewhat similar to yours is:

> 部屋 **で** 棚を作った。  
>  I made the shelves in the room.
>
> 部屋 **に** 棚を作った。  
>  I made shelves for the room.

(BTW, it is worth noting that some textbooks give different explanations which
work quite well for their target students at the time but can over simplify. に
has far more uses than just a "standard usage" exemplified by いる／ある and a role
as a "target particle". Based on your final comment you seem to understand
this but for reference, The Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Makino
gives seven uses and still does not answer all my questions on the particle.)
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