Internet Romance

Hey,

This poll is just so I can figure out how many people have had some relationship, whether that be emailing, IMing, or whatever. As long as it's on the internet.

 

That s%$t just makes me too leery!!!!

Roger

 

child molesters that use IM also use internet dating sites

 

Yep, not to mention all the supposed "18 year old girls" who turn out to be child predators

 

My oldest internet "friend" I met in a help forum around 1996, and we just seemed to click, and we still keep in touch regularly. A few more I've met online including a couple of very dear friends. But nothing involving romance.

 

Does it count if you met online, then met in person, fell in love, kept talking online because you were several time zones distant from one another, decided the romance part wouldn't work because of that, and now are good friends? I chose Option C.

 

Most of my relatiships were at least started online. True there are a fue weardos and people who straight out lie about who they are but yould be supriesed how many are honist about who thay are. Trust is one of the biggest parts of a relationship after all ...Edit: good point Sgt. Tibbs, i dont think i relationship could servive as just being internet based...

 

Cool! Thanks everyone for your input so far.

Looking forward to more votes.

 

I worked online in the UK as a moderator in a Christian chat room for over a year, where I spent may hours chatting and becoming friends with another moderator in the US, who was going through a real tough time. Later, we met up as friends, since we got on so well. It kinda just went from there. We've been married 2 years now

I've also spent many years meeting people all over the world who I have originally got to know online, males and females alike, doing internet meets everywhere. Some of you out there are simply awesome people; others of you are just plain weirdos

 

Fakes and liars can be found I.R.L. just as easy as on the net, i.m.o. Sure, some may hide behind the initial anonymity of a cyber medium, but they still get exposed eventually.

Having said that, personally, I have many friends that I have only met via the internet. A few have become very close friends, including some of this said board - but none I'd term 'romantic'. That does require the “personal touch”, so to speak.

 

Awww... such a nice story!

 

No, here @ MG is the most on line inter action I've had with people and it's great. Out side of that I would be scared.

 

some people just love playing around. you'll met lots of them on the net. some are born lier though you could meet some honest folks, which is very rare. i have some friends online. some even i thought would be interesting but when you meet them personally, heck bunch of loosers. net is just for meeting up new friends but romance haha i doubt it.

 

nah...it was the complete reverse for me!
Many moons ago, i met the love of my life down at the local golf club, and she introduced me to the internet!

In fact....I think i got the link to this site underneath a soggy beer coaster that had attached itself to the bottom of my pint of guiness..lol!

 

No different to RL and going down a bar then

 

No never even considered it,posting on a geeky forum is about as wierd as I go,internet dating is still in its infancy once more people consider it as non wierd option it will come into fruition and probably end up the norm

I saw a stat once that 90% of marriages are between people who are your neighbours,school friend or who you work with,dont quote me though

 

LOL! I want one of those coasters! lolol
Hey MA .... a new way of advertising to the Germans! hahahahaha
abri

 

For those that think the net is full of weirdo's........Hey its the year 2006 not 1986 guys, the Net now is the neighbourhood Bar/Coffee shop, not the exclusive enclave of techno Geeks it was years ago. It always amazes me how some who are technically with it, can not accept the simple fact that the Net is not their exclusive playground anymore.

The "Snobbery" on some sites is pathetic towards "Newbies", something akin to the "Jail-house Mentality" if you haven't done time, your a nothing.

I treat all my fellow "Forumites" on the boards that I frequent like I would a person sitting next to me in a coffee shop, if they want to talk intelligently I will listen and contribute, but if they want to spew garbage, then I get up and leave simple.

Romance.......I met my first love at a High School dance (Talk about weirdo's), my first wife at a community dance, others at coffee shops or social activities, my second wife (and she says last and I agree) at POF (Plenty Of Fish website) she had an adopted 10 yr old (now 12) and I was retired, second thoughts as I traveled over 800 miles to meet Duh yea, but we took our common interests and love and have worked at cultivating that. A good relationship requires an equal effort by ALL participants, it just doesn't HAPPEN.

I think back to Victorian times when alot of Romances were started and flamed with written correspondence, that took two to three weeks to arrive! Were there "Weirdo's"/"Faker's"/"Cheat's" then yea, the same percentage there are now on the Net, only you didn't here about it the next day.

Human Nature hasn't changed, just the way we hear about it has. So Live, Love, Laugh and enjoy your trip on the Planet Earth.

 

I still reckon it's not really cool meeting people on the internet, but if it happens, it happens.

 

You don't watch 20 20 do you?

 

Back in 2002 I joined my first forum (a gamers forum). I was so nervous at first, it took me about a month to pick up the courage to post my first post. But on that forum I made very many friends. The forum had a small chatroom which I eventually dared enter for real-time chatting, and there I became even closer friends with the people I've known through posts and PM's.

After a year or so I found myself on an airplane over to the UK to meet my first internet buddies. One of them decided that for her 40th bday she wanted to meet her online buddies. They are now my closest friends, after a week I will never forget, and I visit them regularly.

Thanks to all my sailing trips around Europe I've had the enormous privilege to meet about 10-15 of the people I've gotten to know online. Some of them have come to visit me and stayed for their hollies. And you know what? Never EVER have I come across someone who isn't the exact same person they appear to be online!

A few years ago I met one of my online friends in the UK. We hadn't had much contact, but enough for us to want to meet for an evening when I was in the area he where he and another mutual online friend lived. That developed into a deeper friendship over some months, and after half a year we realised it was more than just friendship. We have been living together for little over a year now.

Maybe it has been so easy for me to make friends like that because it all started in a forum that was a little like this, a forum where honest and friendly people visited, who were there to make friends, and not "hunting". I would have felt more awkward if it had been a dating forum I think.

And I think this is the way it usually happens, same as for Lev. You meet someone through something you are interested in doing, be it on the golf course, in a nightclub or on a forum depending on your interests!

In that case I've got to ask... What IS a "cool" way to meet someone? Pissed out of your mind in a bar???

 

Ive met a few people on the net but the only one ive actually kept in touch with was this kid in NY from an online PS2 game (ratchet and clank: UYA, totally awesome game BTW) It was really wierd too because he had been planning on moving to a town near me when we met lol. ended up not moving but we still talk every once in a while

 

I reckon meeting someone shouldn't involve today's latest gadgets.

 

Bingo!

No, that's the easiest way, but certainly not the best way. Unless you're just looking for one night fun.

 

yeah it could be some thing like that, the difference is sometimes you tend to involve too much emotions to a stranger you meet on the net. especially if you're in desperate mode and in search for someone who could listen to your predicaments. and you'll find lots of those on the net. sometimes you feel more at ease talking your heart out to a stranger you cant see. well, atleast for me it does. and then when finally you decided to meet that guy... wohoo you'll gonna say " is he the one 'em talking to, for Pete's sake, its nothing like him" (haha is it based on experience or what?)

 

Hi Joshcrick,
I've met quite a few online acquaintances from the internet and of those, some became friends and others I lost contact with. Because of the spatial distance the internet allows, it's possible and sometimes easier to show yourself to people online than you might if that person were someone you could see and touch. As for romance, there must be something to it, because it doesn't happen between everyone. Whether that could only happen online, or if you would have had the same feelings for that person if you'd first met in person, I don't know. With the internet, there are simply a lot more people you can get to know. It necessarily expands your working base because you can quite quickly locate people who have common interests, backgrounds, styles, etc.
abri

 

Thanks abri.

And you all for your input. Hoping for some more.

 

As in Bingo! or as in bingo...?

I would say that is probably the most difficult way! At least if you are looking for a serious relationship... http://members.chello.se/solange/smileys/drunk.gif

Cheers!

 

No different to a bar setting...a few drinks and emotions to a stranger can become too involved. People in bars will listen to you if you are in desperate mode, and they'll buy you a few drinks probably, allow you to talk your heart out, walk you home, and then when you next meet them and your sober, you're gonna say "is he the one I was talking to...for Pete's sake, it's nothing like him". Alcohol clouds perception of reality, the same way a computer screen can. The different being it is way easier to walk away from the computer screen than it is someone in a bar if you are in desperate mode and things don't go right.

 

but enhances the fun factor like a core2 duo!

 

Also to mention all the weirdos on MySpace trying to get 14 year old girls to pose for them

 

Many of them seem to pose without being asked, IMHO.......

 

Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying the predators are doing nothing wrong and it's not their fault...because, IT IS SICK, and I think they should all be put somewhere the sun don't shine, for the rest of their lives!! However...Lev is correct too!! Being a bus driver, I hear a lot from my junior high/middle school kids and I can tell you right now...they aren't all as innocent as their parents like to believe they are!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is why parents need to to be more of parents to their children...but that is a whole 'nother subject!!

Meanwhile...back at the ranch...

I think that if you get online with the sole intention of finding someone to shack up with...then god knows where you'll end up!! However...if you meet someone while, say...hanging out in the lounge at MGs, and it starts out as innocent chatter, and over time you find a specific member and yourself click, and next thing you know......!! To me that is no different than frequenting the local gym and getting to know the person who is always next to you on the treadmill!! As far as being decieved...that can happen anywhere, anytime!! Granted the internet makes it easier to hide, but if you read the news enough...you'll find stories of husbands that met their 13 spouses at church and twelve of them are dead because they've come to find out he has killed them!! So basically, they are all over the place, and part of the problem is that some of these people don't have the common sense to see the cookyness, and/or are just too gullible!! In my past...I've come to think that if someone voluntarily divulges (rambles on) too much about themselves, or things around them and/or just way too out going and full of s*@t...then I tend to step back a little and re-examine the situation!! But unfortunately some just don't see it!!

Oh well...that's just me anyway!!

Roger

 

I met the best thing that ever happened to me via the internet...right here on MG for that matter...and no, I'm not talking about Halo.

The internet isn't the only place one could happen upon perverts, losers and scum. They are everywhere: the grocery store, right down the street, the post office, even your church. As long as there are minds, there will be sick ones.

The internet's worst contribution to society is allowing those without a clue to go public with it.

 

Yeah...That's exactly what I was trying to say!! Only I seem to have this thing about rambling on when trying to make a point and/or voice an opinoin!!

Roger

 

Hi Star. Was waiting for you to weigh in. You and AbbySue were two of my favorite people here even before you "found" each other.

 

Just remember, she hit on me.

 

Well, yeah, but only with a Nerf Football. Better that than a rolling pin. Or a full meatloaf.

 

Yeh, me too. Some of us go back a fair few years, now.

 

Roger that

@Phantom, : yes, our photochopping exploits are legendary, aren't they?

 

Legendary, imfamous, something memorable.

 

Well, at least we'll be remembered for ...errm, something.

 

Sounds like it's brought back memories

 

Very true! The creepiest people can be found in the most mundane places. They certainly aren't confined to what is normally defined as a high risk area.

 

FWIW, the only people I've ever known who have served jail time for truly creepy things like assault, ****, or murder I've met in person and never knew online. Darn near everyone I've met from online relationships has been someone I'm proud to call "friend".

 

Ditto. Couldn't have worked out better if we planned it. And, as we are heading toward out 5th year together it must have affected your memory...who hit on who first? I seem to recall a PM comment and a few I dare you's along the way! LMAO Do I need to pull out my backups?

 

Uh oh! I'd quit while you're ahead, man! Seriously, Star and Abby are one of several success stories I know of through the internet. I have some very close friends over here that met though the net - both been very happily married for over three years now. As a matter of fact I had the very pleasant duty of attending their wedding, so it DOES happen for the best at times.

As with everything in life, 'common sense' should be employed. A teenage I.R.C. chat channel is less likely to provide a quality relationship than having known a person for years on a forum - often in more detail than I.R.L.

Of course, as far as I'm concerned the www is just as 'real' as if I was talking to the person face to face. After all, there is presumably a real person at the other end. Maybe it's easier to 'hide' or walk away in some respects, but still it's a question of respect, which also includes honesty, i.m.o.

 

I met my internet "thing" after talking for almost 3 years. Hes been here in New York with me for 2. I personal don't think that everyone is bad on the net BUT their out there and we always hear about the bad ones but hardly the good........go figure huh.

 

That's life generally. You don't hear about the 55,998 football fans who had a good time....you hear about the 2 who started a fight.

You don;t hear about the 25,000 bikers who did a toy run at Christmas to children's foster homes or hospitals...you hear about the 2 involved in a weapons incident.

You don't hear about the 100's of 1000's of soldiers fighting to cover our butts everyday...you hear about the 3 who abused their power.

Nice stories don't make sales figures rise. Human nature.