this is going to be long just a warning.

anyway, actually i prefer meeting people online, as compared to in real life. i think i'm just quite weird, or maybe i'm just lucky that the people i've met online have turned out to be rather nice people so far. perhaps its because online, there are virtually no 'first impressions'. you dont get judged by your looks, your attitude, by anything apart from the way you type and what you type. and i feel that while the computer allows you to hide behind it, it also allows you to reveal who you really are deep inside, after all, the person you're talking to doesn't know you and isnt gonna judge you, so there's no fear of having to present yourself properly. its either you like who you're talking to, or you dont.

i've met tons of people whom i've talked to online, in real life.... but that's probably cos i live in such a small country so practically everyone knows everyone else, so its quite safe to meet people.... and maybe its cos of all those people whom i've met in a vanilla, normal friendly way, that i actually had the courage to meet the first person i felt was 'decent' that i got to know online, that was into d/s

i guess i was lucky....that i didnt meet a bad egg, or a fake or something like that. so that first meeting rapidly progressed and developed into a one year plus relationship........which sadly ended a couple of days ago.

but i guess, i learnt much more, and got much more out of it as a real life relationship, then i would ever have, from a purely virtual one. its just my view on things, but i think that regardless of how good or real the internet is, its not going to be able to compensate for real life.

with regard to the pictures/webcam issue.... gee i'm not sure if i should be ashamed, but yes, i am rather superficial to a certain extent. looks DO matter. maybe its just me, but i can't sleep with, much less submit to a guy who just isnt pleasing to my eye....