Are your internet friends Axe Murderers?

I have a RL friend who, quite seriously, told one of my internet friends (when she met her IRL) that she was "glad Lynn's Internet friends were not axe murderers." I'm still laughing about it.

So curious....have you ever met any of your Internet friends in real life? And how did THAT go?

I've met a number of the EA group in person. Spent a long weekend in NYC with a bunch (for a Midwest gal, that was quite the feat). I love them all dearly, and found that all that I met in person were just the person I'd "met" online.

I met my husband online. I guess that worked out well. [img]wink.gif[/img] We met before it was heard of at all to meet someone online. (Early 96.) People's faces would really show the surprise. Nowadays, it seems everyone knows someone so the shock isnt so severe.

Funny story about that. He had come to NY back when they were looking for Tim McVeigh for the OKC bombings. They didnt have a picture, just a sketch. Hubby is tall and blonde and from OKC. My mom was about to call the FBI until they announced they had caught their man.

I have met a bunch of other friends online as well. (The only EAer I met is no longer active, though.) When I moved to Washington state and we learned that we would be without furniture for over a week because the trucking company couldnt deliver before then, our "axe murderer friends" brought us loads of blankets, and pillows and sleeping bags, a TV, VCR, and some pots and pans to cook in for that time.

I met Dan (ba da baam) online. Here, as a matter of fact. I've met quite a few of the STPers, only one suspected Axe Murderer in the lot...

hummm Guess I'm safe then, seeing as how I've never met you.

I've met a bunch of my internet friends and they are now some of my very best real-life friends. Hubby and I met in those pre-historic days before Al Gore invented the internet, but we met through a magazine personal ad.
There are a few internet aquantances, however, that I'd prefer NOT to meet in real life.

I've met online folks IRL about a dozen times now. Some of the meetings were rather awkward but a precious few were magical - just "clicked" right from the beginning, made the transition from typing to talking like that *snaps fingers*. Really cool.

Came close, but not yet. I have spoken to Bran on the phone once, though, and that was pretty neat.

Oh! And I've spoken to Leesh briefly when I called in to her radio show.

(Although I think "axe-murderer" is a stereotype, I will admit to considering being a hitman with a friend after we got out of the Marines, and I'm strongly intrigued by how serial killers can go for so long without being caught.)

I've met quite a few of my online friends in the real world and have only been disappointed in one case and that was early on. All my EA friends are just as wonderful IRL as online - I'm looking forward to meeting more someday.

Deb

I have met a bunch of my online friends. Most of them turned out to be exactly as I thought and I have had no big surprises.

Jace! Don't tell anyone about that body you helped me hide!!!! [img]eek.gif[/img]

I've probably met about 30 or 40 people so far. I've met about a dozen of the STP'ers. I've kind of lost track. Some have been great, some not so great. But most people have been pretty much what I expected.

At another board I posted on before here, we used to yearly gatherings. We did four of them I think. I made it to three. We would move them around the country so different people could make it. First was Chicago, then Vegas, then Boston, then Vegas again. Once a group of us got together in SF as well. Some internet friends have become close friends.

Okay, but if it comes back to life again we're renegotiating my squire contract if you want me to help you fight it. God-damned undead. [img]graemlins/boy_hug.gif[/img]

So *that's* what happened to Jax.

Funny that he found it easier to get a girlfriend after he became undead...

Didn't I take care of you LAST TIME?! sheesh!

All of the online people I've met, EAers, have been "as advertised". Not a clunker in the bunch.

And yes, RL folks did worry about the axe murderer factor in the beginning...but that's years ago now. People are completely used to my "online friends" being real human beings.

It *is* weird, though, taking an online relationship live. You aren't used to pauses, especially when you are message boarding. Pauses threw me off for a while. Nobody is witty 100%...but you can edit when you post. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Andrea
who blabs even more inanities when she speaks...this is edited and thought out

Scary?

I'd reply to this, but I just can't come up with anything right now.

Quote:

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Originally posted by pluckyduck:
It *is* weird, though, taking an online relationship live. You aren't used to pauses, especially when you are message boarding. Pauses threw me off for a while. Nobody is witty 100%...but you can edit when you post.

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<font size="2" face="Comic sans ms, Helvetica, sans-serif">Booyah for that.

The other weird part of going from online to rl is the name thing. Suddenly switching from calling someone you know as "Jester" to calling them "Jason" is just weird.

Then there's going online to a site where you know someone in rl. You have to switch from calling them "Jason" to "Jester".

There were a few times that I've referred to my rl friend, Redlass, by her online name... to her face...

My husband doesn't go on-line, and when I'm talking to him about "what Eris said today" or how "taurusmoon stole lynnzop's giraffe" or how "wormie is complaining that it's cold because it's 60 degrees in Florida", he just looks at me blankly and walks away. And I've met two of those people and still call them by their screen names when I talk about them [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img]

Heck! I've started calling my own sister by her screen name in RL!!!!

Yeah, hubby gives me strange looks when I call Eris Eris. He's finally figured out who I'm talking about.

I've met lots and lots of online folks in rl. In fact, when I travel on business now, I usually try to combine it with a chance to meet someone I've met online. So far no axe murderers.

So I take it Taurusmoon isn't an axe murderer, Redlass?

Nope. And have I mentioned that I have your frog? You never mentioned that he liked dark beer.

Well, this explains why he left home. No beer in the house...

He may be ready to return home, 'cause there isn't any beer in my trunk either, and it's awfully cold outside.

Well, frogs are cold blooded, aren't they? Don't they just hibernate when it gets cold?

(yes, this is my way of saying my house is *way* to messy for visitors today, although I'm not sure that excuse will work against Redlass)

*laugh* No, that is NOT an excuse that will work against me. But you're safe. Remember that book I was ghostwriting? Well, the person who is paying me wants all the chapters by tomorrow morning.

Vacation's over.

Bleah. Have fun.

So Redlass is a ghost? Was she killed by an axe murderer and now comes back to haunt people and write books?

I'm only a part-time ghost. The rest of the time I'm positively ghoulish. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Ghoul?!?

*runs off to find the KiSA*

We've got another one!!

[img]graemlins/girl_hug.gif[/img]

I've met a bunch of people that I've known online IRL. In fact, there's one friend that I get along famously with, on and offline. We've discovered that we're quite bad for eachother IRL, though, because we encourage eachother too much. A-kon will be hella fun this year. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

As far as SIP, I think I've only met Dan and AsIs. My muck used to have annual gatherings. I've met more people from there than any other online community. For the most part, I've found people to be just as cool, if not more, than they are online. I always enjoy meeting friends, and try to look them up if I'm going to be in the area.

It was fun getting to meet you kitty. One of my regrets from Yuricon was that I was so damn busy I didn't get to spend more time with you. [img]frown.gif[/img]

Hey Jace, Ghouls just wanna have fun! This one looks pretty harmless, but then, she IS a friend of Eris's. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Let's see... tyle got me started on this group when we were roommates, and through her I've met FB, Babybird, Ski, and my former fiancee (who is Ski's best friend).

Jely keeps threatening to visit, but no plans have been made yet.

tyle gave me a few funny looks when I accidentally called her tyle in real life, and that cured me pretty quick.

Though I've made plans a few times, they've always fallen through for one reason or another and I never have met any of my online friends.

My husband is definitely not an online person either. I convinced him to post on the SiP forum awhile ago, just once. He protested, but people were talking about him and I thought it might be funny to get him to post his own repsonse. He did, whining the whole time, and never did it again. He still looks at me funny any time I talk about my online friends, and I always call them by their screennames too, even if I know their real names.

Gem,

Maybe we should start a support group of Spouses with Offline Spouses.

'Course Redlord occasionally surprises me by showing up at the boards where I hang out. He even occasionally posts. Perhaps if he learned how to type, he'd post more often.

I actually got my screen name as a take-off on his, which has ended up being amusing considering I'm online a lot and he almost never is.

I'm suddenly glad I met Dan here...

(And yes, Dan has a passing familiarity with JP, Jeff, *mumble* and other EA folks...)

(And yes, I have a passing familiarity with some of the people on *his* online groups, too)

Shoot, I think Hubby only knows where the computer is because I'm always sitting in front of it. He definitely doesn't know how to dial AT&T to connect to the Internet, much less get to the places I frequent.

Geez, I started this thing and never really said much, did I? [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

I've met a number of EA folks IRL. It's weird how you suddenly get this real, live person instead of just a person on a message board or chatroom...they have a face that moves [img]eek.gif[/img] , they have a voice...then after you meet them you can hear their voice when you read their posts.

I've never been disappointed with anyone I've met from online - they were pretty much what I'd grown to expect (and I was never let down!), and most have grown into what I'd consider "real life" friends.

I talk about the board members by their real names, however. I don't think hubby would quite understand if I kept referring to them by their online names. :laugh:

I already know Crystal Princess (an occasional lurker here) as I'm the one that got her addicted to SIP. And I've met 3Peanuts and Sarabiga IRL, it was really cool but we only got to hang out for 2 hours [img]frown.gif[/img] . I didn't actually know them very well at all before I met them, just a couple of e-mails to 3P before I went on holiday. It was funny because they knew what I looked like but I had no idea what they looked like. (My mother was more worried about me being kidnapped in Bangkok than me meeting total strangers in Italy, weird mother logic) But now we get on like a house on fire, must be all that good karma [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

And I hope to meet some of you if my travels take me nearby in the States and Canada in Sept/Oct.

Oh and in my 2nd ever e-mail to 3P before I went over I wrote PS. I am not an axe murderer. (I really did)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 13, 2004 04:16 AM: Message edited by: Chaos Butterfly ]</font>

Actually, no, he didn't.