^ I'm like this too. I'm extremely anxious around cameras, for a lot of reasons (some too personal to discuss here). Another part of it, for me, is that I'm not at all photogenic, and people often tell me out of the blue that I look different in pictures than in real life (usually worse, sometimes better, sometimes "weirder"), that I don't look myself; so I feel like pictures misrepresent me. That makes me even more anxious about it, like I'd be giving someone the wrong impression. (In example, I once sent pictures of myself to someone I met online before he came to visit, and the look of disappointment on his face when he first saw me completely crushed me.) I'd actually much rather fly to meet someone in person than send them a picture. Talking on the phone is very stressful for me as well, though I can more readily force myself to do it.
Oh god, you are speaking my language.
I can either be incredibly photogenic, or look like a complete mess. This is not based on my health, how much sleep I got, or even what time of day it is. I can go from looking like a very handsome dude, to someone who nobody wants to be seen with, based on what camera is taking the pictures. Strangely enough, whoever I take the bad picture with, he or she always looks wonderful, where I look like a cocaine addict.
I am very particular about what goes on my Facebook. I tend to prefer selfies over photos that someone else takes; the reason for this is that I can control what people see. If I look really bad in one photo, I can delete it and start over from scratch. I can't do this in Skype, because what the camera catches...every bad look, every terrible gesture...is transmitted there, and I can't "delete" it before they see it.
I also have a neutral face that looks kind of angry or depressed, which a lot of people have commented on when seeing me in real life, and what I'm really self conscious about. But if I go around grinning, I look like a serial killer.
Sigh.
It's always possible that this guy is dangerous, but it could be that he is extremely self-conscious. How you feel about dealing with someone with that level of anxiety is up to you. His fear is his own problem, you're not required to find it acceptable, but if you can't then you should move on.
In any case, for safety reasons, he should be the one to come to you, not you to him.
I agree with this as well. Although you should definitely look into a possible criminal record, and google search results. Also, instead of talking to US...just ask HIM. If he is self conscious, it's probably eating away at him, and the problem is only going to get worse...because you'll internalize it as him being not interested, and he'll get even more hurt and feel even more misunderstood.
And, of course, if your instinct says to run when you confront him...do it. Don't walk, run. It could be either one, so you need to take both options into consideration.
I understand what you mean. Almost like, what's the big deal if you're going to meet anyway, right? They're going to see you and talk to you anyway, if the meeting really follows through.
A face to face meeting doesn't rely on lighting, or computer generated effects. The network can also make you look like a complete nightmare. Which is why someone who has a bad picture can be absolutely stunning in person. And which is also why photoshop can make average looking people look like models. It's a trick.
