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VeryHappy, I think it's o.k. - there are a few people here (can count them on one hand) who have my real name, office information, cell phone number and even Skype contact details - but basically they're people I've come to "know" by reading their posts over time, and subsequently trusting them. I even once paid a poster's son to do some math stuff and his help allowed me to save a contract that I was about to lose (or loose???? - hate it when I'm too sleepy to get that right!!!). I would "hire" him again in a heartbeat. In my experience a person cannot really "fake" who they "are" in hundreds of posts over time.
I wouldn't engage with just anyone though - I have to "like" them, have a comfort level, etc. I don't look at post counts but I do assess over time if a community members tries to help others, or do they just use CC to play. Weenie once posted that there is a responsibility to respond to posts that are requests for help, and I think that's very true. Even I can find ways to help - I am not much use trying to help people find schools because I don't know anything about any of the schools or programs, majors, etc., but, there are always posts on the financial board that can be answered, etc. So if I don't "see" someone helping, if they're just playing around on the cafe on non-college related threads but not trying to answer posts to help people with college matters, then, I'm not going to be very interested in escalating the "relationship" into PM, email, and beyond.
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