It puts the lotion on its skin...

But on a serious note, yeah I've met people online. The key is to get to know them decently well (about as well as you can through IM, FB, etc). Like MD said, meet in a very public place and always tell a friend where you're going to be that day (paranoid parrot reporting for duty...). And if this is going to be an online dating meet-up, go for coffee. Don't try to go all out and have a full-on date the first time you meet someone from an online dating service. Ever watch 'Catfish' on MTV? Yeah. The chances that the person you've been talking to online isn't the same person that shows up for the date are higher than you think.