Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Home
  • EdTech
  • IRL

IRL

Posted on July 10, 2008 By Tom 1 Comment on IRL
EdTech, Internet

I think we should meet In Real Life…

It’s one of the first things that we teach kids about Internet safety. If you’re chatting with someone online, you should never give out your personal information, and you should never, never agree to meet a stranger. Things aren’t what they seem – that person pretending to be a 15 year old is probably a 30+ year old stalker.

One of my former choir members was twice engaged to men she met chatting online. She married the second one, and things seem to have turned out well. Of course, there are the other cautionary tales which prompted the warnings from the previous paragraph.

So, I’m about to violate that rule – not once, but twice in the next couple of weeks. And it’s not the first time I’ve met someone from online IRL. Four times now I’ve gone on photo walks with folks I’ve met on the Flickr photo-sharing site. I’ve also met with groups of geocachers – folks I knew only as screen names until we met.

Tomorrow I head out for a long paddling trip down the Edisto with a bunch of guys I’ve never met except through Flickr. In two weeks we have the Great Waterfall Odyssy of 2008 with yet another group of Flickr photographers.

There are several huge differences between my activities and those that prompt the type of warnings generated above. First, I’m an adult (all evidence to the contrary aside.) I always make sure things are on the up-and-up and that I’m in control of some form of egress. The gatherings I’ve always attended have been organized groups, and with people that I’ve communicated for a considerable period of time, even if it was only online.

More and more people are finding people with shared interests online, and it only makes sense that they should get together at some point. While there are real dangers out there, it doesn’t have to be all horror tales and tragedy if one only follows a few reasonable precautions.

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: Sansa vs Apple
Next Post: Skynyrd’s ❯

One thought on “IRL”

  1. DuckHunter says:
    July 12, 2008 at 12:26 am

    Good post, Tom. I have met a few through Flickr and it was a great time each visit. Like you, it was people I had emailed for a while and watched on Flickr.

    These positive stories should get out more often.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • EdTech (200)
  • Entertainment (202)
  • Family (121)
  • Gear (115)
  • General Technology (99)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (265)
  • Internet (144)
  • Local (450)
  • Miscellaneous (550)
  • Music (196)
  • Paddling (248)
  • Photography (779)
  • Podcast (6)
  • Rambling (227)
  • Rants (161)
  • Recipes (34)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (411)
  • Uncategorized (129)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (60)

Recent Posts

  • The Phoenix Riots and Dr. Benjamin Mays – An MLK Day Ramble
  • An Obsession with Steak Knives
  • An Epiphany on Patriotism
  • Kayaking Bates Old River and Running Creek
  • One Step Closer

Recent Comments

  • Joel Nagy on Old Pickens Court House
  • Derek May on The Haunting of Farr’s Bridge
  • Roger Combs on Mystery Cemetery
  • Roger Combs on Mystery Cemetery
  • Roger Combs on Mystery Cemetery

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
January 2023
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Dec    

Copyright © 2023 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown