POTW: When Two Worlds Collide

[Diana]

Thanks to JINX for giving me a good idea for once!

It often feels like the lives we live online are completely separate entities to the life we lead out in the world. Sometimes when they come together it can have a really huge impact on your relationships with other people.


Would you (or have you) ever invited REAL LIFE PEOPLE to your online communities? Was it a good experience for you or a bad one?


Have you ever brought online people in to your real life? How did THAT work out?



For me it's been a mixed bag, but over all a really good experience! Some of the real life people I have invited to my online world (Like Mister ALAN! :D) have been great! And sometimes I regret telling people, like this one guy I am glad none of you ever met. >>;

And when I met my online friends in real life, some have become my bestest best friends ever (like Miss Ocha and Mister Jinx) and I even MARRIED one, Mister Gibs. XD

Sometimes I wish I could rant about one world or the other like I used to. And sometimes I miss having a private place where I can escape to. But those feelings are rare and far between. Most of the time I'm really glad that I can talk to people in real life about what I do online, and they don't tell me internet people aren't real or say I need to get a life. c_____c;

WHAT ABOUT YOU!

 

[Zypher]

I'm like Diana. Its a mixed bag for me. I'd meet my online friends and I'd invite my real life friends but I tend not to because I don't know if they'd enjoy it (and it's a pain to explain what roleplaying is without putting people off sometimes)

 

[Zen]

I met my boyfriend online so that's one plus for meeting someone online and meeting them in real life. Through him, I've met his best friend along with his fiance and my boyfriend's family. I have two close online friends who I talk to on a regular basis. Both of which I would love to meet in real life. However there are those from other sites or games where I would pummel them to death if I met them in real life. I'm not joking either.

I've invited real life friends to sites as well. Most of the time it works out fine as far as them getting along with people. Most of them don't really enjoy roleplaying though and sometimes I just won't mention it simply because I don't want to look like an idiot. Once I do find out they enjoy roleplaying I drag them into a roleplay.

 

[Sakura]

Would you (or have you) ever invited REAL LIFE PEOPLE to your online communities? Was it a good experience for you or a bad one?


I always try to invite my RL friends to Iwaku and other online communities I am a member of, but it never really works out as well as I expect. I guess, my social scene is more of the smart, game-players, and when they need to relax, they don't write stories or discuss literary techniques, they go out for karaoke or eat dinner together. I think I'm just capable of more than they are, haha. Then again, I don't go out as much as they do. Most of the guys work out. And most of the girls have "better" things to do. I think it's just a lack of writers as friends. That's why Iwaku is so important to me. Writing is a part of me that my close friend can read and know about, but they'll never really understand, like they can't understand the feeling...


Have you ever brought online people in to your real life? How did THAT work out?
I've only done this in ONE scenario, because I'm still young. (I just hit the age where I'm ready to meet you guys! And only some of you guys because I've known you for so long.) Giving out my skype or having your numbers (some of you, haha) is because I totally trust that you can be a part of my life outside of the internet. And also, even though I'm older, I'm still rather gullible, so I have to be careful, haha.


The one time I did this, it worked out because it was a group of four and we were working to publish this book together. In the end, it didn't work out and we're still in editing stages, but out of the five, one of them is a reallyreally good friend of mine now. He and I, I think, were young when we started out and understood each other through our writing~ now that we're older, we're able to understand each other as if we were family.


Writing is just a special connection, I think. Heart-to-Heart, Soul-to-Soul.

 

[Ochalla]

I've only invited one person from real life to an online community and while I do not regret it, for it benefited her greatly, I hope to never speak to her or that lover of hers again. If I found another friend in real life that I thought would enjoy Iwaku, I'd invite them, but most my friends are coworkers and they have other interests then cooperative writing.

As for meeting my online friends, well, to be honest the only thing stopping me from meeting more people is money. There are some people I've known for over a decade that I can't wait to meet. There are some people that I count as my dearest friends that I have met more then once including Diana and my Hawaiian Bro. Thank goodness I have a travel lust.

 

[Inanity_Check]

My job necessitates that I keep my private life and E-Life separate.

Besides, while I have a lot of fun with forum buddies, we are probably extremely different individuals. I'm a menthol-smoking, foul-mouthed vodka-chugging braggart that is paradoxically obsessed with her fitness. I "wing-man" for all my male buddies before getting trashed and ruining some random PUA'S day. I also like to roleplay.

The type of people I just referenced in the post above and the average role-player don't usually intersect. So, I'm perfectly happy keeping my friends compartmentalized.

 

[Stacisaur]

Would you (or have you) ever invited REAL LIFE PEOPLE to your online communities? Was it a good experience for you or a bad one?

I have told people from real life about this site, actually. They don't join, but I do tell them about it! I've even read some passages of my posts to them, and usually they think it's pretty darn cool. c: They don't know how much I consider this place a family now, but that's besides the point. xD

Have you ever brought online people in to your real life? How did THAT work out?

I have NOT brought online people into my real life. As of yet. There are many I would LOVE to meet in real life! The when, where, and how is just the problem.. o.o;

 

[redblood]

Would you (or have you) ever invited REAL LIFE PEOPLE to your online communities? Was it a good experience for you or a bad one?
I have invited one of my friends to Iwaku because I knew she liked roleplaying, if I know that some of my friends like stuff the site I am on have then I invite them but if they don't like that kind of stuff the site offers then I don't tell them about it x) The friend I invited to iwaku liked the site a lot :) I haven't roleplayed with that friend because we don't have the same taste in rp but I don't think it's bad that she joined xD We talk sometimes on this site with eachother so it went good. :)

Have you ever brought online people in to your real life? How did THAT work out?
No I haven't, I don't trust people on the internet that much and people I trust they often live in the wrong country so it would be really dificult to meet. xD There is some people on iwaku that I would love to meet actually, but I can't afford to travel to where they are xD

 

[Silas]

Would you (or have you) ever invited REAL LIFE PEOPLE to your online communities? Was it a good experience for you or a bad one?

No, not really... I used to have a group that all went on Gaia but it felt really... weird, I kinda felt violated with them being involved in my online life. >.> I'd probably not invite someone I knew here despite it being a great site purely because I RP smut sometimes. -shudder- I'm a lot more able to be myself online with the anonymity provided. It's also a bit of a private space thing, I like having a group of friends that no one else knows. Ones I met purely because I wanted to.

Have you ever brought online people in to your real life? How did THAT work out?

Yesss! We go on trips together and it's just really silly. We make jokes and... well... it just feels natural. My life isn't very 'normal' but I feel like I've connected much better to people I first met online than those I met in person first through school or other events. We only meet up maybe once a year or so right now, but we're really tight knit. It'd be terrible to be without them.

 

[Miss Flufferbutt]

I've invited people to rp sites, and it worked out great, since they like rping. One newbie I invited to Iwaku, and I plan on telling another friend about here. ^^ It's fun 'cause we can also do our evil plotting when we hang out. >:3

As for meeting online friends in real life, I haven't yet, but I plan to once I have the means. :3 I'll be scared as hell 'cause I'm kinda paranoid and gullible, so it might take a while for me to trust them enough, but it'll definitely happen! XD

 

[Selenite]

My RL friends are not into writing... well most of them are not even into reading, so, there goes any interest in collective storytelling. I never invited any of them online to do anything because their online interests are really different from mine. Almost no friend of mine likes games or anime or most of the stuff people here talk about. Actually, that makes me wonder, how the hell do I even keep my friends? Most of them are not even into art! Really, I must be good at something else and I just don't know what it is.

Also I feel really uncomfortable sharing my interests that openly. I'm already regarded as a sophisticated weirdo, so the more mundane I can pretend to be in public, the better. I would not go and say, ''Hey does anybody in here RP as well?'' without knowing really well at who am I talking to. And when I do know, I don't bring up subject matters that are not of the other person's interest- and as said before, my friends don't seek this sort of stuff.

The other way around works a lot better, although I have to say I met only two people from the internet, in person. I'd do it again if suitable, of course! But so far, the interesting people I've met live really far away from me. *shrugs*

 

[Fiona]

If my RL friends demonstrated any interest in RPing then sure, I'd be bringing them in. I've done it with games and comic forums, so why not with RP sites? It's hardly as if I talk about anything worse with them than I do on here. Hell, I act weirder offline than online most of the time.

As for online folk coming into real life, it's pretty normal for me, generally a good thing. If I've been chatting with them online for however long I at least know we can hold a conversation, or just be utterly random and not weird each other out. Ended up making a good couple of firm friends through the net til now. Don't think I've ever regretted meeting someone from the net.

This has reminded me to go check when Reaper's next anime marathon day is, thankies xD

 

[Dawn]

I've invited Toria to some of my sites :D

Also, Toria and I were actually friends online before we realized we went to the same school (even funnier because the school has about 500 students). A few real life friends have invited me to their sites as well. But as for meeting online friends in real life, minus Toria, I've never met any of them. I would love to meet a bunch of you but I doubt it'll happen any time soon D:

 

[Fel of the Eternal Forest]

Would you (or have you) ever invited REAL LIFE PEOPLE to your online communities? Was it a good experience for you or a bad one?
I brought Okami into this world, and he hasn't left since. Although, he did ditch me irl :I

Have you ever brought online people in to your real life? How did THAT work out?
Online people in real life? Maybe, there's a select few of you that I feel are close enough to me (friendship-wise) to meet. That, honestly (sorry everyone else) means Rory and Fluffy.

 

[Hartke]

My roommate and I once role-played together all the time (we actually became friends because, holy crap, I walked into a group of people at my high school talking about post-by-post rping!). But her level of writing is at a completely different level than mine so she assumes that this place wouldn't be of interest. I drop the suggestion sometimes, she may come around. That being said, no one else I know would be interested in written role-playing. They either lack the interest in writing or the time for anything beyond their own specialized interests (sewing, painting, music, etc.).

As for getting in contact with people I know online: I've done it before. However, I am hesitant to do this again. I knew those people for seven years online, so it wasn't like I had just met them when we exchanged telephone numbers. I also have a few of these people on my face-book, but I don't really talk to them anymore. I had actually become really close friends with one of them, and it makes me sad we don't talk anymore. But people grow, and sometimes you grow apart. And that's okay.


I don't know if I'll be able to share my information with anyone on Iwaku. I tried skyping once but I became a little bit intimidated by the number of people so I never really had a chance to actually talk to anyone (that and technical difficulties). But, who knows, I'll probably try skyping again. Whether or not I'll share more has been decided. I always feel like if I post a picture of myself or disclose anything person it will come back and bite me in the ass. I'm a bit paranoid by nature. Not that it's unusual to feel that way on the internet. Perhaps the longer I stay the more open I'll become. We'll see. It seems to be a good group here.

 

[Elyd]

So... it depends. I haven't ever invited anyone from my offline life into my online one, but I don't think that's to say that I wouldn't. Just that my offline friends aren't into online friendships. I had to drag them kicking and screaming to gchat, and it still feels awkward. Which is annoying because gawd I hate phone calls.

A couple of years ago I met up with one of my best internet friends and we are still best friends forever (zomg). She and I met through our blogs rather than through a message board, and I'm surprised I've never met up with anyone from (now-defunct) MoonWings. I think I was definitely too shy and insecure to do so. I would now if our paths happened to cross, but I'm still not ready to go out of my way to meet up with anyone of you. Except for a SUPER special occasion.

 

[Delnoir]

There's been more than one person online I would have liked to/would like to meet, but bringing my real life friends into the fold isn't about to happen. It wouldn't mix well. The interest isn't there and I find my online persona to be rather different from my persona in reality. My online self is basically me mostly unfiltered. Offline I'm the one who keeps the rest of the group on track. The one that has to worry about everything because if I don't then no one would be.

I come online to unwind away from my real life friends. I'm simply not about to bring the circles into one.