I met with an old friend a couple days ago (whom I met in an online game a few years back), had a great time, a great catch up session. And it got me thinking bout my life and how a lot of the valuable friends I had at some points were my online/game friends.
Back when I was younger (around 11 years old?) it was heavily frowned upon to get to know online friends and meet them in real-life cause they might be "bad people". I still met tonnes of these people despite this advice, but of course I exercised some caution (eg. meeting them in public malls and libraries, not going to secluded places).
And I would say some of these people are way better friends than most of those I've met in person.
Should I have just listened and not explored on my own, I might have just believed that "online people are bad people" and not just normal people using the internet.
Don't be afraid to find things out for yourself, just remember to weigh the possible good with bad.