The Student Room Group

Meeting Online People, Offline

This may sound a little bizarre, but this morning I met up with someone in person, who I had met online. I'd seen him on webcam so I was pretty certain he wasn't a forty-year-old pervert, and we got on really well - he was absolutely lovely, if not dreadfully nervous.

Basically, I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are about meeting people like that, and whether anyone would ever consider having a relationship with someone they'd met that way? I have a good friend who met her boyfriend online, they are about to celebrate their second anniversary.

Cheers,
Natsy x x

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Reply 1
I did this once. 'Twas a terrible mistake, beware, beware!
Reply 2
Yes it's possible. I met with my boyfriend through a friend but we talked on MSN first. We're now over 2 years :smile:
Reply 3
i always thought it was for ugly people, of course i might be wrong, gona need a pic tho to disprove my theory
Reply 4
I did, and now I'm engaged to him
Reply 5
Ferrus - can I ask what happened? I'm quite concerned.

I hope I'm not ugly, I've had no complaints so far. Picture, though, my dear is out of the question - I don't just hand them out, you know! :P
I once met some one from a an internet dating agency. He was a pain up the backside but hardly a murderer. We met some where public and he even paid for the meal
Would I meet people I have only known through the net? Yep and I have done. Exercise caution and have a plan to leave quickly if it's looking a bit pear-shaped.

Would I date them? Not solely off what I knew online. If I should happen to see them in person and get to know them in person, I would know them 'in person'. The distinction disappears.
Reply 8
bazlette
Ferrus - can I ask what happened? I'm quite concerned.
Let us say one learns from lifes experiences.
Reply 9
Obviously I don't intend to just go with what I know from conversations online - that's a dreafully bad plan. My intention is to meet again, and if that goes well then maybe again, and so on, really get to know the person.
Reply 10
I would; and have done.
Reply 11
I did when i was 14. That was an experience to remember....oh how young we were!!!!
I did meet my current Bf of 2,5 years online :smile: it was kind of accidentaly, I mean we were not searching for each other on some meet - your- other- half sites... just started to talk, coz both were bored on sunday morning... well, I am happy he was online that day :smile:
I have yet to meet up with anyone I have spoken to on the internet- though it's overdue! I have a friend who I have known for over 2 years. We were going to meet but in the end we couldn't make it on the same day.
I'd say go for it with all usual warnings, meet in a public place etc.

Just curious, do you people purposely go out of your way to meet people from the internet to become friends with, or do you simply meet eachother by accident on a site (like TSR for eg), or by common interests?
Reply 14
bazlette
This may sound a little bizarre, but this morning I met up with someone in person, who I had met online. I'd seen him on webcam so I was pretty certain he wasn't a forty-year-old pervert, and we got on really well - he was absolutely lovely, if not dreadfully nervous.

Basically, I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are about meeting people like that, and whether anyone would ever consider having a relationship with someone they'd met that way? I have a good friend who met her boyfriend online, they are about to celebrate their second anniversary.

Cheers,
Natsy x x

I dont see a problem with it at all, only thing is you will need that little bit exta trust, as becase you live far apart from your partner you wouldn't know what there getting upto half the time
Reply 15
I've met up with 3 people I randomly got to know through a BBC message board 3/4 years ago and they are now some of my best friends. We first met up properly when we were 15 (our mums spoke on the phone to make sure we weren't going to murder each other). We meet up as often as we can and I wouldn't class them as internet friends or anything. It was totally natural from the first meeting, I couldn't believe we'd never 'met' before.

To the OP- how long had you known the guy before you met him? Do you live close (ish) to each other then?
Reply 16
i have met loads of people who i found online. A number also ended up in the same course as me at uni which made being in a new place a lot easier.

was going to met another batch of people in glasgow last week because we all talked on msn and stuff but i pulled out to go on a date which i girl i knew in real life but only ever talked to on msn because of the distance issue and we are now going out
Reply 17
bazlette
This may sound a little bizarre, but this morning I met up with someone in person, who I had met online. I'd seen him on webcam so I was pretty certain he wasn't a forty-year-old pervert, and we got on really well - he was absolutely lovely, if not dreadfully nervous.

Basically, I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are about meeting people like that, and whether anyone would ever consider having a relationship with someone they'd met that way? I have a good friend who met her boyfriend online, they are about to celebrate their second anniversary.

Cheers,
Natsy x x

I met someone from this site (I'm sure a lot of people know who! :wink:) about a week and a half ago, after talking to him via internet, txt, phone and webcam for about 8 months. We started off just talking, but after a while it became obvious to both of us that there was more to it than that, so we met up to see what it would be like it real life. We were both really nervous too, but it went so well, and we got on, and he's lovely too :smile: :love:. I'm going up to visit him at uni at the weekend, can't wait! Hopefully that will go well too, and then we'll just go from there. He lives about four hours from me, which might cause a few obstacles, but we're just going to see how it goes. :smile:.

One of my best friend met her boyfriend via a chatroom, and they were together for three years, so it obviously can work out. If you like him then just got for it. Two of my really good friends from uni I met on here too...ahh the joys of tsr! :tsr:
Reply 18
I don't see why it's any different to meeting people in a school, uni, shop, pub, the street... they're all just places and we're all just people.
Reply 19
Zurich, I so agree with you! As you say, they are just places, and neither me nor my boyfriend set out to find a partner on the internet, it just happened! I met my boyfriend online via my university fora (he'd spent a year there as an Erasmus student 2003-2004, I arrived September 2004). We started emailing as friends in November 2004, and we started to have feelings for each other in the December. (It sounds bizarre, and feel free to disagree, but we loved each other before we met. I think if someone is articulate enough then you CAN get to know them properly through the internet.) The first time we met was in February 2005 at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris (having spoken on the phone/sent letters and cards many times before then), and we've been together ever since. It can happen :smile: