Ive met people who I have met online...and all of them have been very nice people....I get quite a good idea if people are genuine or not if I chat to them a bit..

I dont really try to make internet friends if I dont plan on meeting them....unless of course they share the same interest and we chat from time to time...which I think is a good thing really....like here
allows you to speak to people from different cultures that you wouldnt normal have the chance to chat to like we do here.