Internet friends

I have lots of "friends" on the internet.  People I've never met make up a fair percentage of them.  So how do you know if they are really your true friend or not if you've not ever met them in real life?  Some people are different in real life, they have a persona online, something they have to hide behind.  So if there are people out there like that, how can you differentiate between who is real - and who is fake?

I've been burnt a number of times, by people that I thought were my real friends.  People that I had been friends with for 3 or 4 years online, and then they just weren't the person I thought they were.  Is that a me problem, or is that a them problem?  Did our friendship run its natural course?  Was there really a true friendship to begin with?

I know you can't really know someone until you meet them in real life, because you know, its far too easy to lie online.  I'll admit that I'm not a perfect person, but what you see online is the real me.

Since I've been in Queensland, I've had a few experiences meeting people that I only knew from online - one has turned out to be one of the greatest friends I think I will ever have (she just gets me even if I do torture her with exercise at 5am most mornings!), one was like a volcano that erupted and shit was thrown everywhere,  and one was meeting up with an old friend that I had met a few times before I moved to Tassie - and she rocks too.  Best of all, these two rockin' chicks live in the same suburb as me, and its awesome to know that they are there for me, and that they accept me for who I am - warts and all! (well maybe not warts, but hairy legs at least!)  Plus, there was also another friend who I felt I could just sit there all day and natter away with, while the kids all ran around nude and jumped in and out of the pool - no judgement, no bitchiness - just a down to earth, honest, rockin' chick.

So I guess you have to take the good with the bad.  Next month I have a meet lined up with a group of girls from BB - my baby buddies when I had Speedy.  I can't wait.  Sure, I'll be nervous and probably go between laughing hysterically at nothing funny in particular, or being that quiet little mouse sitting in the corner - but I truly cannot wait to see these girls, and get pictures of our antics!  And I truly hope that I mean as much to them as they mean to me - the same in real life as online.