Meeting someone in real life?

How have some of your experiences been with meeting a person from an on-line forum or group? How do you really trust what they are saying is truth? I have always been really sketchy about going any further than emailing an online person. Then one time I started writing to this girl on a pretty regular basis over e mail. Not too long after, my impulsivity kicked in (not unusual for me) and I told her to call me. We ended talking on the phone, and eventually meeting in person. We chose to meet at a public place which wasn't too far a drive for either of us. Luckily, it worked out well. I do believe that I have a very good intuition, but you never really know.
It doesn't matter if it's a guy or girl, I am still sketchy about it. Some of that also might be how do I really know if it's a guy or girl? They could be telling me anything at all. The pictures they send could be of anyone.
Has anyone ever had a bad experience meeting an on-line being, person, whathaveyou (?) What types of places do you usually decide would be best to meet at? Do you bring along other friends with you? (I don't want to do that, but wondering if that's something people do).. I guess that would depend on where you chose to meet.
Also, I am not just talking about one type of relationship. Could be about friendship or love or anything. Just real curious about how others go about it.

 

I've met a couple of people from here. Both were private meetings, so it was after a while of messaging and talking on the phone, to make sure I felt I knew them well and it would be a good experience. both situations were great and one I consider a dear friend now.

if it were a public event though, like a music festival, I'd meet anyone from here without thinking about it.

good friends come from the oddest places, so i simply accept that and embrace it.

 

Sketchy is a real good place to stay at, believe it or not. I have had luck on my side when it came to meeting online people in 'real life'.

However, I do know people who didn't have such good luck. I guess you just use your best judgment.

 

Dive in and hope for the best but bring a can of mace in case their crazy lol. Just say you always carry it if it comes up

 

I met my boyfriend on these forums. We talked for a day or two before we spoke on the phone, and then after two weeks of talking online, we met in person. We've now been together for a year and over 7 months. We're best friends, and have an amazing connection and relationship. We've talked every day since we first met...

Also, my cousin met her now-husband online, and they have 2 children! (of course, she was 19 when she got pregnant...but shhh...lol).

And my boyfriend's brother met his now-wife online, and they seem to be happily married.

So yeah, I think it's very possible to meet someone special on the internet. Of course, be careful, and follow your intuition. But also, keep an open mind.

Oh yeah...and I forgot to add...I've met other people from online also. None of them were "bad" people...as in, they weren't murderers or rapists or anything. But when we met in person, they weren't what I expected and it made for a very awkward day (one that I wished would end ASAP...lol). The worst one was having a guy come visit me at school. He came during the winter, and had to stay overnight because he didn't want to drive back in the snow. We had absolutely nothing at all to talk about. It's like we just sat and stared at the wall, 'cause we had nothing in common. I also had a guy tell me he thinks he loves me (the feeling was not mutual, and he was becoming obsessive and desperate). I had another dude say he was falling in love with me, but there was no attraction on my side for him. So yeah, you have to be careful...sometimes, even if the person is a good person, there can just not be any connection whatsoever, and it makes for a very...VERY...awkward position...lol.

 

Yeah, that is definitely uncomfortable. I don't know what to do in those situations. Just sit through it, or say I need to leave.. Definitely awkward

 

Usually, I sit through it, but I make it known that I want them to leave as soon as possible, in a polite way. Sometimes you just have to be really straight forward and blunt (which isn't a problem for me...lol), because the person can be really thick in the head...lol.

 

i have met a few people off these forums and they all ended up being great people. I met MIMOSA and DifKettleOfFish. They are cool. I also met a guy I call monkey man on a forum I used to frequent, he ended up being weird...but still cool. We still chat every once in a while..........
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i met my best friend brendan thru the net. i wasnt gonna really meet him in person but he ended up being in my algebra class my first day of college, i remember hearing the teacher call his name and i instatly knew who he was.​

 

I met my current boyfriend on the net and we've been together for over a year and known each other for almost two years now. We often forget that we met online hahaha... actually as a reponse to a silly ad I placed in the singles ad page.

I've also met people who are really good friends from the net. It was a group of us who went to the same chatroom over one summer. We've known each other since 1997!

I've also met people from the net where they are good people but just no connection. I'd survive the night but then its good bye and we go our seperate ways.

I met my ex from the net too. Although he wasn't a gem worth keeping but he didn't hurt me. We still talk.

So ya, you can have all kinds of results from the net.
Just hand pick meetings with your instincts.

Peace

 

i've met one of my good friends from these forums. we both really liked the band moe. and thats how we started talking. it turned into both of us understanding eachother really well on many levels. we met a few times... at moe. shows. it was kinda weird at first cuz i think both of us were tripping when we met and nervous anyway about meeting eachother so we didnt have much to say. but i saw him at several other moe. shows and we're working up to talking to eachother more at the shows.
i've heard of horror stories though about meetings on the internet, i think i watched a program on tv about it. scary shit man... just be very cautious and go with a friend to meet them.
hope all goes well! peace

 

I met the love of my life on these forums. And I was really surprised by it because I was very wary of meeting someone online. People kept suggesting I try that because I'm shy, but I was too scared. But one night he pm'd me after seeing some of my posts and seeing that we live in the same city. We hit it off immediatly and there was this strange connection and I just knew I could trust him and that meeting him was special. We chatted online for hours a day for a few days then talked on the phone. Then a week after he first pm'd me we met at a concert. Fell in love at first sight! And we've been together ever since. I've never been so happy in my life!

 

I've met my best friend over the internet, another (German) forum. We mailed and phoned for a while, and as my aunt lived only a few minutes' walk away from her I visited my aunt and went over to my pen pal every day.
I haven't made any negative experiences with meeting net-friends, but I avoid meeting people I feel I don't really like, even if they live in my town, especially if they're male and older than me.
I even can imagine finding love over an internet forum (well, this one), probably because so many people write about having found their boy- and girlfriends here...

 

I must have met 10+ people I've spoken to on the internet and not one of them has been weird or dangerous! I'm lucky so far I guess.

 

wayfaringstranger stayed at my house for two weeks. he is such a sweetie, he even cleaned under my couch for me.
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I bet he was just looking for loose change...

 

This is what happend when I met my ex fiance on here


http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=142977&postcount=1

 

well i did let him keep the change he found but he also helped wash dishes, cook, and vaccum!!​

 

Wow, am I going to meet a girlfriend in this forum?

I just arrived in this forum .......... but I have only met a lovely girl back in my home Country (Italy). Tough, I do love meeting people in the place where I go to.

All my real friends are people met on the "street".

 

it can go either way. i met my boyfriend online 4 years ago and we are as happy as ever. actually the fact that we were "buddies" first, is what got us together and has helped us through some stuff in the beginning that we probably would have had trouble with.

then again, my friend and i met this guy one time (she was afraid to go alone) and he was a freak. he sent us a pic that was attractive, said he was at Penn State, seemed halfway intelligent, even though some of the things he said here and there threw me for a loop. i just had a bad feeling in general about this one, but she still wanted to meet him. so we drove up to 30th street station in philly to meet this guy and low and behold he was some bum who lived in a motel and he stunk like liquor and while it is possible he was in college, he was like 45 years old at least. omg! and he wouldn't let her go, i had to get security and everything. he ended up having some big butcher knife on him underneath his New York Times. god only knows what the fuck he was planning to do. then afterwards he kept calling my cell phone looking for her and it got so bad that i had to change my cell phone number. i was very relieved to be out of that situation, and i'm glad my friend didn't go alone.

everyone else i have met has been great though. so i guess it all depends.

 

I've met...four guys from an online group called myspace.com...they were all very genuine and sweet, not to mention hott. I've had all good experiences with them.