I dare say that if we spent just half a day with another member, we would have a totally different opinion of them. We delude ourselves when we think we know posters pretty well by virtue of reading their posts.
I am under no such delusions TBH Lon (not now since I was badly let down in the past on forums from people I put trust in) My mistake, I should have been more sensible... ...I simply take people as I find them on here now. if they turn on me for no reason..I'm done... .otherwise I just interact in the only way I know how, and that's with as much as I'm willing to reveal on an open internet forum... it's not possible to know someone very well whom you've never met and have only known through social media of any type... that includes these types of forums You can gauge the character of a person from what they say or how they act and or react to ourselves or others.. but beyond that , you're at the mercy of your own thoughts and imaginations as to how much interaction you feel comfortable with people online...
I have made some real friends online. Some of whom I trusted completely. None of them have ever let me down. Sad to say, most of them have died. I grieved just as much at their deaths as I would have if I had known them in "real life."
My wife and I met on an Internet forum. We were both involved in the Open Directory Project, a huge volunteer effort to catalog the web that began in the late 1990s. The ODP had an internal forum that was set up to discuss directory issues, but which also had a discussion area where editors could get to know one another. We knew one another for years before we ever met, and were married not long after our first meeting when we both found that the other was what we had thought them to be. We will have been married nineteen years this August. The reason why so many people turn out not to be what they seemed to be on a forum is that they were not honest about who they were on the forum. That said, the fault is not always on the person who has been misjudged because some forums are not set up so that people can be honest about who they are, and general distrust today has led people to not want to reveal who they are, which simply adds to the distrust. I have other friends, as well, who I primarily know from the ODP forums, although the ODP did have get-togethers every year, only one of which I attended, so I have actually met some of them. I have gotten three jobs through others who I have met online.
I won't be taken in and can spot manipulators a mile off, so no problem on forums The aim should not be to make 'friends' but to converse, if a friend or two emerges - that's lovely
That's a big 10-4 as they used to say... I have been a member of many forums for well over 20 years ( still am a member of many and read a lot ) and have seen all types come and go... and you couldn't be more right Ken... the type of people who hide behind a screen, keeping their identities hidden making barbed comments at people they don't know in real life are to be particularly pitied..they are the bottom feeders of forums!!
Not here, but on another forum, people will often jump at the chance to complain about "certain people who are always complaining " It's the same people complaining about the complainers, you know who they mean. Now I'm doing it.
Everyone is different even twins are not the same. We are basically a life time of experiences and none are the same. We get to like people who basically think the same as us and ignore people whom do not. Lon's idea of spending time with another person only works if you start thinking the same. We done experiments in some studies and showed if you start breathing the same and doing exactly the same thinks you start thinking the same. You get into sink with the other person and can be enjoyable.
@Gloria Mitchell and @Shirley Martin Yep, its me - put the picture on for Chrissy, she's been conversing with a 'kitty' for years now