Meeting 'strangers' from the internet

[MickeySP]

Some of my now closest GFs I met on the DIS.

I met my guy of 7 years on Plenty of Fish, we will be married right before we retire

 

[BadPinkTink]

from social media or free dating sites?

Has anyone done this, or any close relatives or friends?

What have been their experiences?

I have been part of music online communities since the late 90's, everything from chatrooms to forums to social media. I have met so many people from online communities at fan events, concerts, meet ups etc. Many of my closest friendships started off with chatting online about our mutual music interests and then became real life friendships outside of the music fan community.

I know many people who found their SO through being part of the music fan community and who initially met online.

I have mostly found that peoples personalities are generally the same online as offline. If you like someones style of writing, how they express themselves, can chat to them easily about many different topics, then usually its the same when you meet in real life.

Wow-so many happy ever afters in early posts.
I really wasn't expecting that!
Cool.

I'm wondering how long you communicated in a typing fashion, before progressing to speaking/ meeting each other?
Whether friends or romances?

With me it depends. Sometimes the meetups I go to I have chatted to a few people for a while, and when I get there, there are some people who I recognise their online names but have not interacted with. Sometimes it has taken years to meet people in real life, due to living in different countries.

Sometimes when I meet online people its because we are attending the same event. In that instance people usually know my real name and contact details before I meet them.

Sometimes when I meet online people its just me and one or two others. In that instance, I always make sure to meet in a coffee shop or similar place and I am very careful about giving out my real name and cell number.

 

[katibosch]

I met my wife on an online personal ad site. That was in 2003 -- together 12 years and married 10.

I've also met many, many friends online, several of which are my absolute best friends. I traveled to the Czech Republic and Hungary to meet two of them last month, and I've met others that live closer.

I never have seen a problem with it, honestly.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I think people who are not part of online communities are the ones who are most cautious and nervous. To them they dont have the daily interaction , chatting etc and so cant understand how you can "know" a person just from a website or social media.

Those of us who are part of online communites often have stronger friendships with our online friends than than people we know in real life. This is often because with online communities we share a common bond, in this case Disney, that our real life friends may not have the same interest in.

We start out just talking about our common interest but as time goes by, we share our real life too.

 

[Hutchy]

I met my current boyfriend through FB. He added my best friend because they had several friends in common and he thought she was pretty. She wasn't interested in dating anyone at the moment and he was totally my type so I told her I wanted him if she didn't lol she told him to send me a message and the rest is history.

I have done online dating several times and only had 1 bad experience where I learned to make sure that at least 1 of the profile pics includes teeth.... sigh.

I also run a movie Meetup group in my area so I meet up with strangers regularly and I've become good friends with some of the regulars and we have a lot of fun together. Just this weekend we did a movie and dinner.

 

[Art 1]

Many, 100 at least. From all over the USA, Canada, UK, Sweden , Germany and several Asian countries.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Some of the best friendships I've ever had have been from people I've initially met online.

 

[tiggergal15]

Yes I have ..all bad..I am now fighting for my life ( literally) and suffering the life long consequences of foolishly trusting a man I met through a dating site...my advice...don't do it..ever. I'm sure I'm the exception with horror stories as there have been very successful stories as well. Just please be extremely careful and cautious.

 

[Disneylover99]

Yes I have ..all bad..I am now fighting for my life ( literally) and suffering the life long consequences of foolishly trusting a man I met through a dating site...my advice...don't do it..ever. I'm sure I'm the exception with horror stories as there have been very successful stories as well. Just please be extremely careful and cautious.

Wow. Sounds terrible. I hope you keep safe!

 

[tiggergal15]

Wow. Sounds terrible. I hope you keep safe!

Thank you..it was terrible and still is! Disney and the disboards are my happy place!.. Rising above and overcoming is my focus..
I just wanted to warn there are bad expierences as well as good!.. Get to know who you are chatting with very well before meeting....

 

[Disneylover99]

Thank you..it was terrible and still is! Disney and the disboards are my happy place!.. Rising above and overcoming is my focus..
I just wanted to warn there are bad expierences as well as good!.. Get to know who you are chatting with very well before meeting....

Great advice!

 

[MickeySP]

I think online gives you an opportunity to connect with like minded,more than physical meeting

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I think online gives you an opportunity to connect with like minded,more than physical meeting

The friendships that have developed for me online were all started based on a particular interest or subject matter. That made for an excellent foundation for some friendships to evolve. I never would have met or known many of the individuals in my circle of friends had it not been for an online setting, and I feel I'm a very lucky individual to have them all as part of my life.

 

[tigercat]

My friend who lost her husband went on line. However, this person was Canadian but was in Britain and couldn't come back to Canada because of a problem with his company. It seemed that he needed money to pay his crew or he was going to land in jail. It was only $4000.00. Thank goodness she decided that she needed the money more than this guy who called her sweetie.
tigercat

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

My friend who lost her husband went on line. However, this person was Canadian but was in Britain and couldn't come back to Canada because of a problem with his company. It seemed that he needed money to pay his crew or he was going to land in jail. It was only $4000.00. Thank goodness she decided that she needed the money more than this guy who called her sweetie.
tigercat

Sounds like that Nigerian princess who's been after me to help her move her family fortune.