Quote:
Originally Posted by kindlekitten
... there is a place called "second life". apparently it totally becomes a second life. relationships are made and broken there that affect relationships IRL. financial transactions occur there which affects life IRL. I have never so much as peeked at it. this is as sucked in as I care to get
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I've heard of it too and have no interest. While relationships online can be fulfilling, meaningful, intimate, fun, or whatever else you want, I've always had the impression that second life was essentially a place where people are not themselves. In which case, why would I want to go somewhere where people are deliberately false? I could be completely wrong on that, and I'm not saying that people elsewhere on the internet are paragons of truth, but there is not the presumption of falsity like with second life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertgrandma
Basically, you are playing with fire if you are trying for "personal interactions on the internet"
Bear in mind, Beppe, you never really know who you are 'interacting' with. That lovely sounding lady, with the sexy posts, and way with words, could be a naked 13 or 78 year old ugly person sitting in their parents basement.
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Too true, I'd venture to say that some of them are fat, balding middle aged guys too
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ea
Great advice
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.
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for a 10 year old 
Except of course if your definition of 'personal interactions' is cybersex with strangers... |
Not neccesarily true. Sure you should not get too wrapped up over the 18yr old with the sexy pictures thinking that they are what they say they are. But that goes for any relationship whether online or IRL. Online is a bit more complex as you really have only what they say to go on, but IRL people can be just as deceptive and false, just not so much with appearances.
Online it does not just apply to cybersex either, in fact I'd say that that is what it should apply the least to. Those types of relationships, if that is all that they are for are so superficial that you should just assume they are not who they say they are or that what they say is not entirely true. The only exception would be if you knew them prior to that stage in the relationship.
On the other hand, for a relationship that is not about sex and has the chance of becoming a real friendship, you need to be more cautious so that you don't invest too much time, effort, and emotional energy into something that turns out to be based on lies.
In the interest of full disclosure ...
None of the avatars I've used on MR, and certainly not the current one, are really me. The current one is there as eye candy for all those that are interested, and as a thank you for the rest of the eye candy out there (KK, badgood, etc.) .