I made the huge, huge mistake of being far too open with someone on a different forum and i'm still living with the consequences of that. Slightly different to being "found out" but having someone stalk me through the internet and ultimately contacting me in real life freaked me out enough that whenever I join a new forum I now resist the urge to add people to anything that could possibly link me to my "real" life.

It's not so much the forum itself, but the things I tend to discuss. I know you shouldn't discuss anything on the internet (or with anyone...) that you want to keep a secret, but I like to pretend that there's at least one bolt hole where I can unleash my thoughts without worrying about the ripples it would cause at work/home.

I agree with those who said think carefully before linking anything connected to your life outside of here. It is a wonderful resource but it cannot be undone so you really have to be prepared and ready for whatever may come from it.