The Internet and Cliques, good bad or annoying?

I posted this elsewhere, I'm just wondering what people here think.

I have found the internet is a very cruel place. You can either meet best friends, or worst enemies. It lulls you into a false sense of security, you meet people and believe that they are great as they prove to be very helpful, then for some unknown reason that same person can either disappear from the face of the earth or stab you in the back in one form or another.

Then theres the internet persona vs real persona. Personally I am who I am, plus or minus the confidence. I don't pretend to be someone I'm not like some of those sickos you hear about. I have recently met a few people from the internet who turned out to be completely different. In one persons case they were so nice in person but online they are the type of person I would advise people to stay clear of.

Then there are the Cliques.

What is a Clique?
A clique is an exclusive group of people who share common interests, views, purposes, or patterns of behavior. A clique is a subset of individuals from a larger group, who are more closely identified with one another than the remaining members of the group, and who exchange something among themselves, such as friendship, affection, or information.

A clique has an informal structure, and it is composed of more than two people. All the members of the group have some type of relationship with one another, and thus the group is tightly knit together as a type of social network.

Inclusion in a clique can give individuals peer acceptance, whereas exclusion from a clique can hinder peer acceptance and damage an individual’s self-image and self-confidence.

You know the type, most people have had the misfortune at some point in their lives to have come across people in cliques.

They're the type of people who are nice to you one minute, but the second you show an interest in what they are doing they clam up and make any excuse under the sun to exclude you, even lie to you.

I don't like hypocrites.
I don't like double standards.
I don't like cliques.
And I certainly don't like being lied to.

Why can't people be honest?

» Too much of a good thing