Question of The Day: Meta Edition

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 13 July 2012 12:00:00 PM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

It seems that the heat of summer brings out teh crazy on the intertoobs. The latest meta-fest at Daily Kos is no exception. The revelation that Daily Kos user "The Nephew" is not whom he purported to be, and in fact, has perpetrated an elaborate con over a number of years using multiple sockpuppets has generated a meta-fest of ErrinF or Buffy Orpington proportions.

It would only be mildly disconcerting, but for the fact that he has used his sociopathy to manipulate and threaten users, both on the blog and IRL.
This incident has been a wake-up call to me. Over the past six months or so, as I have opened up, I have had much more contact with people I first met on my computer screen. Emails, chats, phone calls and even a few in-person meetings. Although I think I am careful (I googled the first person I met IRL extensively to check his bonafides), in hindsight, I can see that in fact I probably have been too cavalier and trusting, though through some combination of discernment and dumb luck, the people I have met have been exactly who they said they were.