Online couple fight over 'deceptive' photos after first meet-up

SINGAPORE - Be wary of who you meet online.

Two online friends in China who finally met in person for the first time, clashed in the middle of a street for using deceptive photos on the internet.

While online tabloid Shanghaiist questioned if the fight was a "weird promotion for an effective photo editing app", Hong Kong Yahoo News reported that the duo were fighting because they were disappointed by each other's real-life appearance.

According to Shanghaiist, the man who showed the woman's online photo to a curious crowd, said: "Look. I was invited to meet an online friend. Look at how she looks before me, and then look at this photo."

The woman then protested that it was indeed her in the photo and accused the man of lying to her.

At one point the irate man even took a swipe at the person who was filming the fight. More bemused than upset, the man continued to film the couple from the sidelines.

As the argument escalated, the man shoved the woman onto the ground and walked away.

The woman promptly got up and turned on the dissipating crowd, screaming: "What are you all looking at? You didn't even help."

Moral of the story? Reality bites hard, so don't believe everything you see on the internet. 

debwong@sph.com.sg