I have online relationships with people whom I've never met in person, and that's beyond the many people here on TIPS that I've never met.
I've been friends, online mainly, with a group of about 5 currently, but about 15 at its peak. The group started in 1995 as a group of like-minded refugees from AOL's Court TV OJ Simpson murder trial discussion boards. Of that group, I've met 4 (three in the Chicago area, one in the Reno area). None of them made it romantic, though one came close to turning that way in the early years. She was in Iowa. They range in professions from attorney (several), nurse, advertising executive, New York City bicycle delivery clerk, professor of physics… etc. I believe all of them that I've not personally met are 'real but I've no proof beyond my 18 years of virtual daily email communication via our list serve and the fact that at some point everyone has been personally met by at least one other person. We've had deaths, sent flowers to each other for weddings, funerals, to help with emergencies (one Illinois friend's house was leveled by a tornado, another was out of work a very long time and needed money to keep her house payment up, another's son was being tried in some bizarre drug case and needed money for lawyers. We all pitched in and never have doubted the reality of these folks. We've received baby clothes from some, a spray of flowers at my father's funeral (he became a member of the group in the early 2000s) from the group… we know about wins and losses in each other's lives like any good friends should. If I'm being Catfished, it's been a long con for sure! LOL! Paul On Jan 20, 2013, at 6:27 PM, Musselman, Robin wrote: Last semester in my Social Psychology class we had a huge discussion about catfishing and quite frankly I was initially dumbstruck - and I guess that was my reaction to how could some of these folks be struck so dumb! :-) Anyway, the thing that I find distressing is that this seems to me to be one more way that young people are putting it all out there. What I mean, is they each try to outdo each other sharing things that back in my day you would try to hide...and this is just one more way to put themselves in front of cameras and the world. It reminds me of the people on YouTube who post their return from EVERY shopping trip, chronicling each purchase. WHO CARES? They do, evidently and they have others who watch and must care as well. If you have never watched Catfish on MTV - you will probably be stunned as well. BTW, in my class of 30, at least 10 have on line relationships (some considered to be "romantic") and they have never met the person. Some of the folks on Catfish live less than 5 minutes away and never meet. Go figure.... Robin (showing my age, I guess) Robin Musselman, EdD Professor Lehigh Carbon Community College Schnecksville, PA 18078 phone: 610-799-1531 email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> "----" [O.O] /). ) _"__" --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263003&n=T&l=tips&o=23195 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-23195-13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-23195-13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=23196 or send a blank email to leave-23196-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
