I take all of what you say into account and I agree with you on SOME level, but on another level, I disagree with you. I do respect your opinion, though.
I'll talk about my own personal experience to dispute your own opinion.. because I want to go by actual fact and not just by assumption.
First of all, I do want to let you know that people have met on PC before and have gotten successfully engaged, having a supportive family, and are getting married in a respective amount of time. How did this progress, you ask? Well I can't speak for every little detail of their relationship, nor how they felt.. but I can talk about my own.
I met a guy on MSN, actually. His name is Corey. And at this time I had been insanely busy with school. I would only go online once or twice a week for about an hour or two.. but every time I would, he would say hey to me, and me back. As school started to get a bit easier, we started spending more time together and talking to each other. A friendship started. As time progressed we moved to skype.. and started talking with voice. My schoolwork involves a lot of sitting anyways, so I'd sit on my drawing table with headphones and when doing my work we'd chat. It started becoming a daily thing. Well.. at some point he had showed me a picture of what he looked like, and I showed him a picture of me. I thought he was an extremely attractive guy.. and he thought I was attractive too. But I didn't want to pursue an online relationship even though I was attracted to his looks and his personality (We were basically best friends at this point) because I had been hurt by someone that I thought I loved online before. I did have an offline boyfriend BEFORE Corey, and after the other "relationship" but it wasn't the same.
There wasn't any chemistry.. and there was no sense of trust either.. it was just "Ok hey let's go on a date to get to know you"
It felt strange to me then.. that someone I had never met before could feel so much more real to me than an offline boyfriend. And that I had stronger feelings a millionfold than any guy before.
It got to a point where.. wherever I went I couldn't stop thinking about him. I'd go shopping and I'd see something and just think "Awh he'd love that" and we would snailmail each other little things and letters with colourful stationary.. but yeah.. wherever I went I just thought of him.. and it was then that I realized that I really loved him.
I told him and he said he loved me back. But it was still difficult because we were so far apart.
He got a new laptop with a webcam and everything so we could talk more easily and see each other.. and we would try to do things together like any other couple would try to do. We'd both bake cookies at the same time and then come online after and eat them together.. or get the same movie and play it at the same time and watch it together.
I don't necessarily think I was leading an unhealthy life.. nor him. I wasn't clingy.. because I trusted him a lot.. just because he is so caring and I really feel like he loves me. So when his friends come over or when they go out to drive into the city.. I WANT him to go and have fun. Because he needs a balance, too. He does the same for me. We're committed so we don't feel like it was being sneaky to see other people or anything crazy like that. We talk about all the important things in a relationship.. dreams.. expectations.. values.. and we're on the same page. That's why I don't agree that it is unhealthy. We don't need to be with each other every waking or sleeping moment. Yes we like to be with each other a lot.. but it doesn't mean I'm just here in front of my computer every day. I do other things. I go to class, and I go to the bar and grill with friends, and etc. We call each other on the phone if we're out the whole day just to say "hey I hope you're having fun and I love you" like any other normal couple. And when I'm online.. I do sometimes have skype on and just do some homework. He'll practice some bass and I'll work on an essay or a drawing and it's nice.
The only obstacle was distance. Yes.. love has to do with looks AND emotional attraction.. so why couldn't I say I was in love then? Physical contact is important, but as far as I was concerned, it was working, and working well. He made me really happy, and I made him really happy. But I do agree, physical contact is really important. If you really want to be together with someone, you DO need to be together. So that's what he did.
He promised me that we would go stargazing together before a certain date.. and he kept his promise. He came to visit me in a week in August.
And everything he was online, he also was offline. He was sweet, gorgeous, attractive, fun to be around.. and just.. he was the same person only in three dimensions. It felt so nice being able to hug him, kiss him, and hold his hand. And if it wasn't for my pursuit in the online relationship, then the real relationship would've never developed.. and I would've never found the love of my life. To be honest, I was afraid that he might be different offline.. but I kept faith. I didn't have my facebook status changed until I did meet him, because I wanted to make sure that it could really work. And it did, and so I was able to then let everyone know properly that I am in love.
We're still together, and there's still a distance.. so it's still hard in that respect.. but we still love each other.. and we're working together for a future where we can be together all the time. I'm working and finishing off school, and so is he. Right now we have these priorities that are important.. and it's important that we focus on them. In the meantime we plan to visit each other when it coincides with school breaks and all that. Our parents are both supportive.. my mom and dad like him and his mom and dad like me.. so right now.. everything is working out.
The point is.. I had an online relationship for about a year and a few months before I met him.. and we were close friends for longer. I feel that it was a SUCCESSFUL online relationship because we used it to take our relationship to the next level. Now I just consider it a long-distance relationship. It's still tough but we're committed. We have priorities that we're working towards so that we can have a good career so that we CAN support ourselves and be successful with each other in the future.
If it wasn't for our online relationship.. I would've missed out on the man who is the love of my life.. and an amazing supportive relationship that makes us both really happy.
And having an unsuccessful online relationship in the past shouldn't discourage you from trying it again as long as you've learned from what went wrong in the last one and you use that to approach the new relationship maturely.
Overall.. I feel like online relationships can be very successful when you know how to deal with it and you set your priorities straight and if there's the elements of an offline relationship present (trust, affection, commitment, etc.)