When I'm contacting a colleague for the first time and we're communicating online, I can use はじめまして as part of my greeting. Likewise, if I'm meeting someone for the first time and it is an in-person meeting, I can say はじめまして during my introduction.
However, if I talk with someone online and then we meet in person for the first time, is はじめまして still appropriate? Or is there some other typical greeting for this situation?
Answer
It doesn't matter. Feel it out based on your relationship with that person and whatever feels right. I have to imagine that if you had contact with someone before and you said 初めまして upon meeting them in person it would be accompanied by that kind of weak laugh of shared awkwardness like "what do I say in this situation?" In other words, meeting people from the internet is still a relatively new phenomenon, and while I'm sure there must have been people who had met by correspondence in the past, there is not some universally accepted cultural norm for what to do in this situation. I think you can compare it pretty directly to how the situation would play out in English.
So basically, I don't think there's a specifically Japanese way to do it. The meeting will probably be awkward and fumbling for the first few moments anyway. Personally I'd make a comment along the lines of "nice to finally meet you in person," as I would in English, but that's just me. Just go for what feels right.
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