Well firstly, yes sex is necessary
No, it's really not. Romantic asexuals are those who seek out relationships, but don't want/need sex. And that's one example I have the knowledge to talk about.
secondly, once they got married, did they continue to only have their relationship online? Or was it a conventional relationship then?
When two people live together, they don't need to continue their relationship online. But when one member of the relationship is no longer living in the house (job reason or the military comes to mind), then the Internet is still there to allow for easy real-time conversations.
For every 1 person who completes their degree online, there are tonnes that do it in reality.
And? For that one person, it might not be easy to go to school in "reality" (whatever
that means). Online courses, or at least the ones I took, weren't done at a set time. It was exactly like a forum, so I didn't have to continue to take time off from work to go to school. I could participate in the classroom at a convenient time for me, and the other twenty-ish students could participate when it was convenient for them. And things worked fine.
Yes, it is more common and more known for people to go to college at an actual campus, in an actual school building. But it's becoming more acceptable for people to go to school online because, surprise surprise!, technology is moving forward. It's even
suggested to people who are busy with their jobs/families (that they might have started by meeting their partner online!) that they look into online courses because of how easy it is.
Are these people social shut-ins who spend all their time in front of the computer with a bag of chips as their only companion? Not at all. They're not going to school online because they don't want to talk to people.
For 99% of us, we won't get a choice. We can't hide from the real world (and nor should we want to)
Aw yeah. I get to break out some personal "cool story, bro!"
No, people don't get to honestly hide away from people. Some might like to for whatever reason (people are just honestly dreadful; social anxiety; depression; whatever the reason), but most of us do still enter society. I'm like that. I didn't always like spending time with people. But after spending time on the Internet, I learned communication skills and built up some confidence that now I can handle people better. (Like, you know, walking away when someone is being obtuse. My patience for people has risen greatly, though whether that's because of people online or customers at my store...idk.)
I know. I know. "But you're the
exception! You don't prove the
rule!"
At any rate, no the Internet isn't a horrible evil addiction for the majority of people on it. There will always be people who do have addictions to the Internet, or their computer games, or anything in the world. That's how it is. But you can't claim that just because some people prefer being on the Internet over going out with friends and being publicly social they are being detrimental to themselves.
Some people are addicted to the Internet =/= All people are addicted to the Internet
Some people have unhealthy relationships online =/= All people have unhealthy relationships online
I don't know. I just get the feeling that you don't quite see that it is possible to have friendships online/spend a part of your day online and still have the necessary skills to go out and deal with society at large.