Meeting net buddies for real

[Laura]

Aww I feel jealous of all you guys some of you seem really close !! If any of you care to add me on bebo !Just pm your bebo or just ask me for mine!! Add me on msn too guys on [email protected]

I feel jealous aswell that everyone is so close No, its allright really, everyone is really friendly!

[Dan F]

We actually and by we I mean a number of the moderators, were very good friends with somebody on here but when one of us got hold of their bebo page it became clear that we'd been lied to for several years over pretty big stuff. That's the problem with meeting people over the internet.

*shudders* I still find that really freaky... That's why I need pictures and msn/facebook/myspace because without those, I feel like I could be talking to a bald fifty-year old bloke who wears a batman t-shirt.

The whole ordeal with her still makes my blood boil......Grrrr. Although, in hindsight, it probably made us a bit closer! She's still a moron though!

Urgh, that really did put a big dent in things for a while! I was speaking to this person practically every day (though I'd suspected for months that she was lying all along, as did others, we were just afraid to say it), and then to find out for certain that its all been lies, I can't really describe how it made us feel..... but I do agree with you Mez that the ordeal did bring some of us that bit closer!

I agree with you Kat with Facebook - I actually think the growth of it, when used normally like we do, does make it much easier to judge a person - when you see someone you only know from the net talking with their 'real life' friends, being tagged in pictures etc. you can pretty much see in most cases if they're being honest or not. I know that certainly isn't relevant in all scenarios, but when you work together on a place like this in such close proximity and get to feel that you 'know' a person, it manages to reinforce that relationship.

As for meeting up in real life - I've certainly not been against it when its someone I positively feel I can trust. Its often forgotten that people have been doing it for years - there were days before the internet when people used to write to strangers and call themselves penfriends The net's killed that off slightly, but in some cases its really no different!

Since I last posted in here I've actually only met 2 other people from the forum so far - being Emmasi when I was in Oz and we met up on filming days in Palmy, and Eduardo Bearo who lives near me so we meet up every now and again for a bite to eat along with Di.

Other than that I do have a few people who I would actually class as close friends on the team, a few of us have each others addresses and mobile numbers, exchange birthday/xmas presents and suchlike - even though the 'incident' did make us all a bit wary for a little while, I think it did make us realise how to recognise when someone is being dishonest with us.

I certainly wouldn't think anything of meeting up with, for example, Skykat, Foxy and Mez one day (not to exclude anyone else, just immediate ones that came to mind!) - indeed Mez was hoping to join me for a couple of weeks in Oz at one point. It's just a great shame, and a bit of a regret, that I'll never have the opportunity to meet Frankie, we did entertain the idea a couple of times but it never came to fruition before she became ill.

But anyway, if anyone I'm friends with were unsure about meeting me then that would be fine - they could just ask Di, Tom, Jem or Eduardo and find out what I'm really like

I know most of that post probably didn't make much sense, but internet friendships are very difficult to describe - hopefully most of you know what I'm getting at - I'm certainly not a guy that would just trust anyone I meet online

[Skykat]

No thats what I think too Dan. Its funny, because online you share some really intimate personal things with people and its easier to do that because its faceless. I know that people do make stuff up but when you form suych close friendships and feel like you know someone, you do tend to trust them so its like a kick in the teeth to find out its a lie. Definitely us all being on facebook helps, when you're seeing peoples real life friends, family etc commenting on photos and leaving them wall posts it becomes easier to catch people out. I know when I broke my back a lot of people didn't believe it was true because it was such an extreme thing to happen but I know those who have me on facebook know its true because theres pictures of my brace and messages from my sisters and friends, that sort of stuff makes things much harder to lie about.

I would meet the people I have on facebook, Dan, Foxy, Si, Eli, Cal etc, I am already planning to meet Mez and Joe and like Dan I'm devastated that I was only months short of meeting Frankie. I'd also meet people like Musie and sevenpudds who I've been speaking to on msn for years now but outside of that I'd be wary. Oh and I've met Coral too but its pretty hard for her to not be who she said she was, i would have been caught out very quickly!

For those who do want to get close to people on here I'd suggest that the threads in general chat are a good place to start, Frankie, Mez and I probably really bonded in the girls room thread and if theres people you get on with start by exchanging PMs, then when you're confident move onto msn. I'd only recommend adding people on facebook if you're pretty sure of them because its easy to gain personal details that way.

[Cerise]

Meeting people online is a tricky one, while I talk to a lot of people on here regularly and I trust everyone I think its in my nature to be a bit... wary of sharing too many personal things. Alright, so some people know where I live/or knew anyway, and know those kind of details but pictures and numbers and stuff usually stay private. If someone *asks* me for my mobile amd I trust them I shall give it to them, but I like actually talking to someone on Skype/Phone before sending any form of 'picture'. Like I have a facebook for online friends and a bebo for online friends to stay in touch that way with some as well. Actually meeting people in flesh and blood is entirely different and I would have to think it through *a lot*. I agree with a lot of what Dan and Kat have said though.