It's a matter of interest, trust, and expectations.
Simply put, meeting people from the internet isn't something that interests me. People I've known for years and would consider very good friends, sure, whether they are zoo or not. But meeting people online with the expectation that we meet up IRL for one reason or another is a hard pass.
Speaking from a zoo-specific angle, there are a few factors involved. Of course there's the trust factor, I tend to veer towards hesitancy when it comes to people I interact with directly through these sites. The people who I've gone off-site with and have revealed personal information are people that I've talked to through DMs or through an anonymous/burner app for 7-8+ months. Simply put, it's kind of a nightmare to get to know me very well through sites like these, and that's kind of by design. To even entertain the idea of an IRL meet-up, we are probably talking a minimum of 3-4+ years of having spoken through personal, off-site means.
I don't directly talk to many zoos and that's just because I'm not actively seeking that. I join forums because I enjoy the format, and being able to talk about things I'm not able to in my personal life is an added bonus. Of course, I'm happy to talk with people if they wish to do so for whatever reason. I just don't go out of my way to be the person to break the ice unless I feel strongly compelled to do so. Most of the people I've talked to have reached out to me first, and those have all been positive experiences. I consider them good friends. I don't keep in touch with them as much as I'd like. I'm quite introverted, I tend to live in my own world and my social battery is quite small. It's easy for me to lose track of time while I'm focused on whatever is going on in my life. It's not that I don't want to talk to people, I'm just content being on my own and doing my thing, and more often than not that's actually my preference. Though I feel that's not conducive to being a valuable friend, and I'd like to get better at that.
Expectations are the other big factor. I'm not looking for sexual encounters. I don't necessarily mind talking about sexual topics, that comes with the territory of talking to other zoos to some extent. But I'm not interested in being sexual with anyone or their animals. There's a part of me that subconsciously worries that someone is probably expecting there to be some kind of sexual interaction associated with a real-life meeting, and I'm not looking for that. If I were to have my own canine companion, I wouldn't want to have to wonder if they are just trying to find an opportunity to do the deed with me or my mate. But by the time I would be willing to meet someone, it would have been made abundantly clear that wasn't happening, and if that's what they were looking for they'd probably have moved on long before such a thing could happen.
I don't want to know people just because we are both zoophiles. I want to know good people, I want genuine friendships that have substance. I've been in spaces that have insanely high sexual energy, being in the furry scene for such a long time I got pretty used to the idea of everyone trying to get into each others' pants, and I can't stand it anymore. It's shallow, and in my experience I would go as far as to call it fake. But that's just my anecdotal experience, and I don't care what people choose to do with their lives one way or the other. Live your life how you want to live it, life's too short to give a fuck.
I think I've veered off the main purpose of the thread, but my "goals" aren't really the same as most people's goal on here.
