Although I will have to say, in the Ted Bundy example, it's unlikely that trusting your gut would help you.
He was *really* good at getting people to trust him. That's part of being a sociopath - knowing how to work people. Your gut probably wouldn't signal that anything was "off" or wrong about it.
But I do understand what you were saying. Trusting your gut is a very good strategy.

I have indeed met people in person that I've met on the internet. Specifically Bia (international) and Beth (Fight or Flight) from here. I've known Bia for 9 years (although it was only 7 years when we met the first time), and Beth for.. I'm gonna go with 6 or 7 years (but that would mean only 4 or 5 years when we met). I also met a girl that I'd met off of here, Anna, several years ago, but for indeterminable reasons (on my part, at least) we no longer talk. I will continue to meet Bloopers, too, whenever possible. I've met some of my BEST friends on this website.

I'm not stupid or naive enough to think that I should go meeting someone I've not known or never met to go camping. Meeting people from the internet is, in my opinion, and awesome thing to do, but you have to be smart about it.

I've met a good chunk of people off of bloop. Lots of lovely Aussie diarists, and a couple of pommy's :P My best friend hails from bloop and I'm grateful every day that I met her here :)
That being said I met them all in public places with the exception of Donna who I had over for dinner, BUT had someone there with me lol. And then Mandy, but Donna knew her personally already so that wasn't concerning.

I have met a couple of people off of forums and stuff I used to be on (when I was a cadet) but always in public, and with quite a few of them I had other mutual friends who also knew them.

I think a lot of it comes down to gut instinct. And common sense. AND BEING SAFE.

Ditto; I've met 1 bloopie where it wasn't really public, but my parents were home and there were other ppl around as well.

LOL, Ev totally used the worm pom yesterday when talking about another friend of ours and I thought she was talking about a dog. I was like, did you just call Babz a dog?! What?! What's a pom?!?!?! XD

LOL.... tis what we call the English folk!

Sami is my fave pom because he cooks me dinner on a regular basis. In fact I think Sami has cooked more for me in the last year than Ty has in the 12/13 years I've known him.

And Babz is actually one of the poms I met!

Yeah I totally thought Ev meant Pomeranians or something like that. XD

Awww you've met Babz?! :D I'm talking to her rn and we just confirmed that she's not a 45 year old man pretending to be a Brit girl in love w/ Adam. XD

LOL yeah. We're not friends but she was in a group of people :) She came over with Lindy and stayed with Sami and Laura. Ev (and David) came up and stayed with me & Ty and we all went out to dinner. And then one night they all came to my place. I can also second Babz saying that she is not a 45 year old man. Though if she IS, she hides it REALLY well.

Oh wait I think I remember you talking about that... and seeing pics. I'm retarded. XD

Whooo hooo! XD We have confirmation. XD I've been lucky in that all the ppl I've met online have all been awesome ppl. ^____^ And not freaks. XD

Does 'poms' only apply to the English then? I always thought it was the British. What do you call Scots?

Scots :P

I totally always thought 'poms' meant British people (bearing in mind I came to this conclusion from watching episodes of Neighbours and Home and Away as I've never heard my Aussie relatives refer to Brits or the English as Poms, probably because half of them ARE English!). I didn't know it was only the English. Good to know I'm not a pom afterall!

Oh wait, I'm not the only one confused. Wikipedia thinks "Poms" refers to all British too! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poms

I've never considered it offensive though.

So maybe one day when I next make it back to see my cousins in Australia, you can meet another pom afterall! ;)

See, now, I am talking to a guy I met on OkCupid, and he doesn't live that far from me, but gosh, I am such a wuss. I can't imagine ever meeting him in real life. How did you guys pluck up the courage? People can act very differently online to how they do in real life. They could be such a different person to who you thought they were.

Hmmm, normally it's ppl that I get on very well w/ online. Like the conversation just doesn't end. Eventually it'll get to the point where (if they're in the States) we'll exchange #'s and if the conversation keeps going from there, eventually we'll probably find ways to meet up. Like my bestie in Ohio we met on LJ and last year we spent a week in New Orleans and shared a hotel room and had a blast. A lot of it is just how I feel about said person and if other ppl can verify who they are (kinda like the Genes thing about Babz and Ev) like on facebook or other places.

Plus I always have an escape route (i.e. I can always get back in my car and leave safely) and someone knows who I'm meeting and where.

I've met a few people...More than I'd like to admit haha - more often than not - the meeting has gone well..but for one reason or another - those friendships no long exist (praise the lord). I don't have a problem meeting people from the net, but only because I take a ridiculously long time to get to know people online before I decide to meet them. I remember I had a very short stint on a dating website - and half the guys couldn't comprehend why I wasn't willing to meet them the FIRST day I spoke to them. For me it doesn't work like that. I need to establish a friendship and build trust before I race out and meet someone. But even then - things can still go wrong - so I make sure I meet the person in a public area with lots of people around, perhaps a friend with me, make sure my phone is fully charged etc. I like to believe I have a strong sense of people from first impressions. I know when a person is a bad seed. If I'm not comfortable...I have no problem with leaving.

Oh and I always make sure that I show up like 5 minutes late haha which is actually difficult for me because I'm so punctual haha. So the guy (I've only met guys...) is there first, I can take a look and see if he looks like the type who would stuff me in the boot/trunk and drive me to a secluded area. (and before I get comments on that - I know some people look like decent people and can still hurt people)

i've met many a people from the internet. I met my fiance in an AIM chatroom 6 years ago. He's the person i met in person in the shortest amount of time, it only took a week. But i met him in the middle of the day at my moms work so haha it was all good.

I've met all my ex bfs/gfs online. Whether it be craigslist,Yahoo chats,LJ,Teen Open Diary, or other sites. I usually add people to facebook (now a days, before facebook it was AIM) before i'll even think about meeting them, i need to see how they react with their family/friends and what vibe other people get from them.

My bestfriends (and Maid of honor and brides maid in my wedding) i met here on bloop and i've known them both for 2/3 years.

Bad experiance.... I had a friend that i met in an AIM chat, we were friends for 5 years (13-18) he was my best friend for a while, lived only an hour away. He got his license and a car when he turned 18 and came up to see me. After being such a sweet/caring/understanding man on the phone, he turned out to be a complete creeper in person. He wanted to get a room and have sex and when i refused he got pissed, he got out of the car for a smoke and i called a friend of mine whom came to pick me up. I had to deal with crazy angry phone calls all day/night from dude.

But as i said, i've been with my fiance for 6 years now and we are happy and healthy and my brother met my sister in law on E-harmony and they have been married 4 years now and have 3 kids.

I just use extream caution, always.

I met my boyfriend on www.plentyoffish.com. I was really leery of the whole online dating thing to start with, but, I'm SO glad I did it - it got me out of a horrible rut I was stuck in, and I met someone who, for the first time in my life, relationship wise, truely "gets" me.

That's where I met my fiancee. It's a great site.

I have met every boyfriend online,and I have a "safe" place to meet them on date nights. I always tell my parents where I will be. I am not a bar person or club person,and online it is so much easier to carry on a conversation. I perfer meeting people online then in person,that is just how I prefer things. It is so much easier with my crazy schedule,just be safe and use common sense.

i met my 1st boyfriend online. i was friends with him a long time before we started dating. he's the only person i've met online.. i still need to meet my rocio(broke and famous). she doesnt live too far from me.

like nik, my parents always taught me to be safe online.

I've met people from bloop, friendster, myspace, youtube, and my current girlfriend from inthewire.com

I've had great experiences all the way around. :)

The first person I ever met online came to my house for Thanksgiving one year. We're still good friends. I met my ex-husband online. I've met 1 blooper so far and actually want to meet the other few that are from Arkansas.

ME! ME! ME! or at least once we move back down there this summer...LOL

I met people online before was I was smart about it. I was in a public place though. If people go about it smart it's not a big deal. I met my Husband online, go figure. We met up in a public place for a while before I was ever alone with him.

If I were to meet someone from the internets, it'll either people I can trust (RL friend of a friend, etc.) or somewhere either in a public place or with a giant posse of friends.