It's been a while since I've met anyone in person that I've chatted to online. That's about to change. My goal has always been to meet people online and make new friends. To me that was as natural as joining a club or going to a party. Go for the conversation, stay for the people you click with. If you're lucky you walk away with some interesting discussions and some possible new friends. But online has always been taboo when it came down to actually meeting people. You had your online friends and your IRL (in real life) ones. I remember getting into a big debate with someone over the idea of an online community and stood my ground that it was possible.

The key to getting the most out of the online experience is to be sure of what you want. That means understanding what you are getting involved in. There are many places to chat, NoChickTrix included, where you can meet people and have an enjoyable time. There are also many places where most of the people you come in contact with are looking for a fight. The idea is to know when you are somewhere you can be yourself, and know when to shut up and stick to the topics at hand. I've seen too many people ripped apart for being too gullable, too nice or too emotional. There are a lot of cruel people on the web. I've seen the worst personality traits come out when mocking someone's death or misfortune. If it weren't for my little spot on the web I seriously doubt I'd still be online.

This summer I am going to meet two couples I've chatted with online. The first couple is a woman and her boyfriend that I met from Flickr/SU. For the most part we've just commented on various pictures, so it should be interesting to meet her in person. They seem like a great couple. The second is a long time online friend that I met on NoChickTrix. She's hopefully moving out to California in July with her boyfriend, a wonderful guy I also adore, and cannot wait to hear the official news. It will be nice to have someone to hang with and chat about everything and nothing. Right now most of my closer friends are online. As much as I enjoy our IM chats it's nice just to be able to grab some coffee and just sit face to face.

My next goal is to travel and see friends where they live. I can finally start to travel with Jake... and there's no house cleaning involved on my part. Scooooore!

Comments

Just saw this one :)

I look forward to actually being able to see you too!

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