How Do You know Who is real and who is not online? Making online friends.

I have made online friends almost ever since I started using the computer when I was say 12 or 13, I am no1 24. Over the years it's changed, I used to be email penpals with people and that was fun while it lasted. Then I'd go to chatrooms, and again fun. Then it moved into forums and such, and that was better, I was older and more mature. More truthful so to speak. But you've raised a good question, how did I know that everyone else was? Well I guess you could say I didn't. I made some good friends though at a particular forum, and I had lots of fun. Then I came here, and made friends through another site as well. I am older now, more mature, and I can believe that we are all "real" people because we aren't fake. We share our goals, and well we're online to make money, and that is how we became friends. Still, how can you tell for sure with some people? I guess you have to take the situation and analyze it for yourself based on what has your curiosity piqued to begin with.

The thing is you really can never tell with people online. There are times where it does become obvious after a time, but there are times where people have spent quite a lot of time trying to alter their masks. And they are just is good in real life to really trick and fool pretty much everything. So really they are going to be more than good with the art of deception right over the Internet. I do have to admit, there are some people I wonder about. I'm sure some people wonder about me. Such is life after all. But it is the people that I don't wonder about that are going to be the real problem areas. If you suspect something that is really off about someone, and it is, really there is really nothing to do about it. But if you don't suspect something, that is really the thing you have to worry about, because those are the really good people who are really just able to really adjust their masks accordingly.

I think there's no easy way to know who is real and whose not, most of all who can be trusted, especially in the online world. Everybody knows that there are sick people all over the internet, just as much as there are in the real world. So we must just take it as our responsibility to choose wisely and be careful at all times.

It's hard to tell honestly. So many people can lie on the internet. You don't know is real and who isn't - but if you talk to a person (online) long enough you generally get a sense of whether they are telling the truth or not. I guess the best thing we can do is take things very very slow and be very wary about the lies others could be telling. By the way, WELCOME to MyLot!

to be honest I don't know. I did not make real friends over here, I did make friends on online by an other site. After many years we are still friends, even we did not meet life we do share a lot. If people really are who they say they are you will never know. But you also don't know that in real life. We always think we know our friends but they can stab us in the back for no reason also (even after years). So the only thing you can do is listen, aks if you question something and give it a try.

Sure it's safe to make online friends. I don't read to much into it really. I take them for what they say but I don't invest to much into it. They are so many people out there that just want attention and say things that you find out eventually is all false. You just have to be careful.

Hi loboluke, Welcome to myLot! I think it's hard not to be suspicious, dubious and unsure of people behind the computer screen. You honestly don't know who is being their true selves and those who are not. I think you are your own best judge. I also think that it's important to keep an open mind, be sensible about the kind of information that you post anywhere online and the information that you reveal about yourself. As SomeCowGirl put it, be mature. That said, it's important not to let concerns over people's honesty to cloud your activity online. Just go with your instinct is my best advice. As for making friends online, there are loads of communities and myLot is one of the best I have come across so far. There are lots of friendly, helpful people from all over the world on here so you really get views from many different perspectives, which is great and very educational. IrishGal77 :)