I find it a little odd even if it's about myself, but I like rules... most of the time. But the problem with rules is that there aren't clear rules about everything in life, so I've decided to write some of my own. I'm gonna start with something I know a little about. So these are the rules about making the transition from knowing someone online to knowing them offline as well.
Rule #1: Be close. If you want to transition to an offline relationship of any type whether it be friendship or romantic the first thing you need is to be in relatively close proximity to the person. Now what is relatively close is a matter of personal preference, but you can't be considered in an offline relationship if you only meet once and that's it. But I'm not saying that meeting someone offline for the purpose of meeting them is bad because it isn't it could lead to a stronger online relationship or even it could lead to the desire to make the transition to offline.
Rule #2: Prepare for disappointment. When meeting someone offline prepare yourself for the possibility of being disappointed (or just surprised). Now I will split this into two parts. First visually, second personality.
Visual: I think this is obvious but people are not their profile pictures. One thing I've noticed is that very often profile pictures are people at their best, as well a photo also does not always show the entirety of a person. So when you meet the person they could be having a bad hair day, bad breakout day, or something else that has them not looking their best. You also have to take into account that not all profile pictures are always recent. They could be using their favourite photo of themselves from high school, university or something of that sort and you have to ask yourself how long ago was that photo taken. Also profile pictures don't give you whole view, they aren't in 3D and sometimes they are just parts of their body or face leaving parts out. Not to mention the possibility of photoshop. In this way you can never judge a person by their profile picture.
Personality: People are not always the same offline as they are online. Just think about it, we are internet people where the tiniest voice can be perceived as being gigantic, where someone shy offline can be a social butterfly online. There are also those people who are just more comfortable with communicating textually over communicating vocally. And then there's the nerves, oh the nerves. I'm not sure about you but personally I get nervous quite easily, and that can affect everything. But what I find that might be useful for those awkward first encounters offline, just go back to elementary/primary school and pass notes. It could also cause laughing fits which is a great ice breaker.
Rule 3: The most important rule. Now I consider this to be the most important rule because it applies not only to the transitions of relationships but to every aspect of life. Well maybe not everyone. But it applies to a reasonable amount of situations. This rule is as follows "Be nice, and don't he an ass". (This is actually a variation of Wheaton's Law, which is "Don't he a dick".) I know this might seem like common sense but it can be the earliest rule to break and forget. But it's simple schoolyard logic if you're not nice people don't like you. And easily enough if you're an ass, then you suck.
Post Script: I'm not sure if I will end up writing a series on rules that I think up about life and stuff but I do like the idea of doing it.
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