Well?

initially, that's all one has to go by.
as MDarlene says it can be deceiving.

also, it only gives a very small glimpse of the overall person

yes which can be deceiving

Here it is short and sweet "Yes"!!!!

i start with appearance first

I don't know that judge is the word.. I do form a idea of the type of person they are

This is a good topic!

I guess you could but I have seen times when a person is totaly being ignorant in one thread then totaly supberb in another so I wouldn't base my opinion totaly on a thread . I usualy go look at the persons profile and then make my decisions about that person

That is a good point. If someone judged me by my posts they might think I am a bit sarcastic

All I can say is if you do you could be in for a rude awakening.... As long as I have been here at times I would see someone post some of the best stuff then all of a sudden they go off like a bomb and you wonder what happen and then those that come in like a lion but then you find that side you did not see that makes you regroup....

Hard to form a complete opinion on just the written word...

If i'm Judging larsonc, all i'l say is she gives me wet balls




.

Sorry about that ... these might help

Absolutely.
But not for a while, I wait and see how the long run
makes them seem.
I have even gone back and read all their posts since
they got here.

Eye-opening :-)

Dang, I gotta find a way to delete my post history. Charles?

hehehe there is no way :-)

No. No wait, yes. Umm, no.

It took a long time, but I finally learned not to put too much stock in what is posted on the boards...If I end up talking to someone in email or by phone, I will pay closer attention to their posts because I now have a point of comparison....

Regular posters post when they are stressed, tired, hurt, angry, drunk, drugged, sick, well, happy, sad, frustrated...They post when they are crushing on a fellow poster, they post when they are upset with a fellow poster, they post according to what they hear on the grapevine, they post according to what they read on other sites...Forum personalities are just the tip of the iceberg ...As Kristie said, "It's hard to form an opinion on just the written word."...

That is a deep subject.

I would have to say yes, because I have nothing else to go by.

I have met a few men in person and they were very different than what I went by on here.

Yeah it's hard to form an opinion on what someone is really like just by a few lines in the forums. But I do it anyway. Sometimes I'm way wrong. And sometimes I am spot on.

Depends on the posting & the topic. Some stuff just lends itself to humorous/non serious replies & some posting you can see are made in earnest...that's when you check out the profile. Sometimes you are surprised to find what's in it based on the postings giving you a completely different impression of what this guy/gal is about.

Also I think that's why other genders than you're preferred one come up on "viewed me" - b/c it's someone of the same gender looking you up based on something you said LOL! Doesn't help find a date though...