I meet people from online in real life all the time! As long as you have good common sense and avoid places/situations you don't want to be in, what's there to fear? The news/media always portrays the Internet as this big evil thing that seduces mindless people into bad luck, etc. No! :) You can't blame machines for the actions of people, simply put. If/when you seek out others for friendship or more, just have your wits about you, stay observant and try to enjoy yourself. Don't do things you're not comfortable with. I think these are common sense things...