ANSWERS: 26
  • Uh, I'd say its VERY common. You never know who to trust these days, anyways. And not TRULY being able to see/talk to them in the first place, well, that just asking to be questioned. Its safe to have those kind of doubts, anyways.
  • You can meet people all kinds of places, from MySpace to chat rooms and Internet dating places. I think the person who is using common sense and anyone who has ever watched the Dateline "predator" episodes on TV (and other shows) would be very cautions, and it would be very common for them to proceed with a great deal of doubt about the other person being truly "authentic."
  • That is a very common and very intelligent response to have when "meet" someone on the Internet. We are wise to avoid association with those who hide their identity or misrepresent themselves in Internet chat rooms. Even in the Psalms we are warned at Psalm 26:4 “ I have not sat with men of untruth; And with those who hide what they are I do not come in”.
  • I think its generally everyones first reaction to meeting a new person online. While it would be nice if everyone you met was 100% honest, it generally doesnt happen online. Often when people meet online they begin to feel like "know" each other, but this is usually not the case. Generally speaking, the longer you know someone online, the more honest they will be. Its very hard to keep a false persona going over a 2 year period, eventually your lies wont all gel together.
  • Somewhat common. Being a cognoscente of the internet, I find that for the most part it is easy to tell who is real and who isn't real. If not, meeting in person always does the charm.
  • always
  • I rarely believe anyone's identity on the internet. Too easy to lie.
  • Very common....and wisely so! In my case, I always kept a record of the questions I asked..and his responses. Then I would re-ask the question later on in a different form...and see if they tripped up! I always asked for a work number....or if they only gave me their work number, I asked for their home number. I eliminated men who only gave me a cell number (what are they hiding..?) Chat rooms are easier for a misrepresentation because they are open and free to everyone...and I know that inmates in prisons and in-patients in psych hospitals go on chat rooms. Never join a free on-line dating website, for those same reasons. However, if you pay for a membership on a website like e-harmony or match.com, the webmasters have a record of everyone (credit card etc)...so it is less risky. I recommend this method of widening your 'pool' of potential friends/mates. I married my best 'fish' caught in a smallish pool (200 miles radius from home).
  • "One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit." Harry Frankfurt
  • Very common indeed.
  • I have a few doubts, but I dont really get time to think about who they are too much, it doesnt really bother me, to be honest.
  • not often unless they claim to be a celebrity. Also, most of my online friends are willing to go on webcam to prove their authenticity
  • TOTALLY common ... many lie out right, while many others exaggerate ... I use the idea, "trust, but verify" a lot.
  • It doesn't even have to be on the Internet. A few years ago I chose to move to an entirely different country and I could tell people that I meet here that I was a dancer with the Sadlers Wells ballet if I wanted to. You can only believe what you can prove.
  • Despite how easy it is to lie using the internet, most people won't and don't lie based on principle and the feeling that if they're honest, others will be honest with them too.
  • I don't trust people I meet in person either
  • it took me a year to find out he was a conman in nigeria and not an english man working there so just be careful i wish i could publish his name on here and his oicture. he sent me presents phoned and text me everyday several times then after a year asked for money. i had doubts but he was so clever in reassuring me.
  • who are you again.... hang on let me check...
  • I would say very common at least in the beginning.
  • It never ever occurred to me until I started using this site and ran into a few people that I know now are as fraudulent as 3 dollar bills. In fact when I first got here one of the first questions I answered was... "Do you answer honestly?" I answered a very naive "Yes why would anyone lie here of all places." Live and learn.
  • I was on match.com for 3 months. The guys I met were more open and honest of their names, occupation, hometown than I was. I never lied - was just more reserved in giving out information. You can usually weed out the insincere ones based on your instincts. Good Luck.
  • Less common than most would expect. How many stories have you heard about someone going to meet someone else and they "enhanced" themselves just a "little bit"? Tons!! It should be commonplace to expect that most of the people you "meet" online are definitely not who they say they are.
  • On the internet, it is expected for you to think that something someone says is the complete opposite of the truth. At leat initially...
  • I would tend to have doubts.
  • 99.9% of the time - I always go by my gut and my head. If something sounds to good to be true it usually is.
  • Well, there are always doubts at the beginning. But then the pieces can start to fall together and make sense. If the stories don't fit, there is something going on.

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