Meeting someone from the Internet

Well, never having done it, Chris, I can't really answer your questions. But I do know that lots of people have met this way & some of them seem delighted with the people they've met.

I have met loads of people from the net, mostly for one night stands (a long time back, when I was still yng) - one of them became my bf - an intense affair....

I trust my instincts I guess....

"In the old days" before internet, when BBS's were popular I used to meet a lot of people, simply because we all basically lived in the same community. Since the days of internet, I have actually only ever met "in person" two people. One was a few years back from Australia who came to visit for three months and the other is the man I am going to marry.

Neither did I meet in a chat room or even on a message board, but playing a very, very old fashioned DOS based BBS game that I telnetted into using good old NetTerm (if anyone remembers that!)

I can and does happen all the time.

And you know what - I have met loads of people from A2K - isnt that like meeting people from the internet ?

Most definitely! I have yet to meet anyone in person from here though.

My husband and I met through the personals. This was before the 'net was really big but the principle was the same. So I have no problem with it, you just take suitable precautions, e. g. tell someone that you are meeting a 'net person, where and when (hey, you never know), and meet in a public place for at least the beginning of the first meeting.

I've also met plenty of A2Kers in gatherings and while this wasn't for any sort of a romantic connection, it was easy and fun, really, there was no difference between meeting these folks as opposed to meeting old friends from college.

I"ve met some A2Kers, and they were just like I expected. I say, go with your instinct. I'm a male, and I consider the 'net as much of a social group as any other. If you feel comfortable, go for it.

Been there, done that, like it a lot.

People people people!!!!

You guys didn't understand my question.......

You guys mentioned who you guys met and what happened afterwards, my specific question was what was it like "BEFORE" you met the person. Like what kind of things did you two do online or get from each other that made you trust the person enough to meet them????

Did you talk on boards, chat on aim, did the pic make a big difference? Do you require atleast one phone call before you meet? Like what qualifications did you look for "BEFORE" you met?

No chatting.
We still don't do that.
Saw a pic, it was a bit frightening - he was leaning on the top of his jeep, and because of the lighting he was bright white. Thank goodness his ability to debate online had already caught my eye.
We talked a few times before we met.
A few times?
Maybe more than a few times, because we had a lot to talk about.

Given that it was an 8 hour drive to get here, it was probably reasonable to talk before arranging the first trip.

ok - so that was specific to the s.o.

i don't 'chat' with anyone other than the bunny - and that's rare in any case.

hadn't even emailed with a lot of other abuzz/a2k people i met - til I met them. <trying to remember if i had difficulty identifying any of them when we met - i think not - not even two women i was meeting at an airport in Phoenix>

eh beth,

you didn't even talk on the phone before you met them?

Trying to think.
I spoke to the s.o. on the phone before I met him.
Spoke to Diane before I met her.
I've talked to dlowan, but I don't expect to ever meet her.
I've talked to rae, but not in any expectation of travelling to Florida.
That's it.


The other online people I've met (20+) ... I've spoken to three others - and 2 of them were simply to confirm where a group of us were meeting. No chatting, no phoning. Lotsa meeting though.

I'll be getting together with 3 online friends in mid-December. I've met one of them 2x before - never chatted, never phoned. Met another one about 4 times - we've only spoken on the phone 2x - both times to confirm meeting location. The third I've never spoken with, nor chatted with.

How do you travel? Do you just get in your car and head out? Where do you stay or do you head right back home afterwards?

And do you guys exchange pics before hand?

I've met several a2k people, with existing online friendship and appreciation being the motivator for meeting. I already knew these people moderately well because we have talked many times online in this forum and another somewhat like it. (ehBeth, I can still picture Piffka and SeattleFriend walking toward me at the Seattle airport. I knew because of the circumstances - a relatively unpopulated though not completely empty baggage area - that those two women would be them, but it was faster than that, of course it was them.)

But you might to be particularly interested in meeting a potential long term boyfriend. If so, the same starter conversations would make sense, if you want to share interests and at least some opinions with a lover... but if it were me, I'd want to have some phone conversations before meeting, not so much to grill the person as to 'break the ice'.


Edit to say I am a woman. I had seen a few pictures of some women friends before I met them, and had seen a picture of Dys, as it is his a2k avatar, before I met him along with several other people when a2kers met in San Francisco this last year. I think I had seen a picture of PDiddie before I met him too.

Chris, initially there was very little in the way of photo exchange, partly because many of us weren't very sophisticated in knowing how to get photos online. Now that we're getting savvier, the photo thing seems more natural - but it's not something that's required.

I think I only saw pix of 2 people before I met them. It wouldna mattered in any case. I'm interested in what's behind their eyes.

I agree re 'what is behind the eyes' - that is why I considered meeting any of these people in the first place.

I make the woman send me some of her used underwear first. After that, we're good to go.

But you eventually talk, eh? And then it's over?