Online Dating?

[alisaie]

Not sure if this counts because they met in person first, but my aunt and uncle-in-law were basically long distance. My Aunt lives in Colorado, and my uncle-in-law lives in Florida. They did meet each other and have human interaction a lot (uncle went to live with her for... three months? and my aunt went with his family to Australia) and thus in the end they married back in February. My aunt stills lives in Colorado and my uncle-in-law still lives in Florida but he goes and sees her every week (has this special plane thing with the airport or something idk.)

So... while it didn't work for me it can work. You just have to have the right personality for it, and as mentioned by Livewire, they do meet in person from time to time. Strictly Online/long-distance isn't going to work so well than if you meet them from time to time. But that's also from personal experience.

 

[Loki]

In the past, I was adamantly against personally being involved in an online relationship, mostly because I believed that for me, it would never work out. Now, I would certainly consider being in a relationship with someone I've never met IRL, but I would make it very clear to them that it would not be serious to me until we met IRL.

And at that point, a whole slew of other problems crop up, because I seem to have an irrational dislike of being touched by anyone who sees me as more than a friend-- even people I like more than a friend LOL. Not exactly a catalyst for a healthy relationship, if I do say so myself. So perhaps I wouldn't be so much willing to be in a relationship at all right now, so much as I would be willing to agree that we are very, very close friends, and that if I weren't incapable of being in a relationship we would be in one? OTL

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

On a completely serious and non-facetious note, what makes a purely online relationship (i.e. never actually meeting each other in the flesh over at any time during the time together) an actual relationship as opposed to a friendship? I can understand relationships that start offline then move online for one reason or another, and I can also understand relationships that start online before eventually gravitating into the online sphere... but ones that start online and remain online do confuse me on a conceptual level. What is it that makes them a relationship?

So, the above probably summarises my feelings towards online dating. For me, I guess I'd need some form of physical contact (not necessarily sex; more just the intimacy that comes from being with someone) in order to classify it as a relationship.

 

[Captain Fabio]

On a completely serious and non-facetious note, what makes a purely online relationship (i.e. never actually meeting each other in the flesh over at any time during the time together) an actual relationship as opposed to a friendship? I can understand relationships that start offline then move online for one reason or another, and I can also understand relationships that start online before eventually gravitating into the online sphere... but ones that start online and remain online do confuse me on a conceptual level. What is it that makes them a relationship?

So, the above probably summarises my feelings towards online dating. For me, I guess I'd need some form of physical contact (not necessarily sex; more just the intimacy that comes from being with someone) in order to classify it as a relationship.

Someone's opinion will be different from mine, but I don't think it is classed as a friendship, but I don't think it is a relationship either, if you never meet them, never see them in real life.

I need to see them and be, physically, with them when I can, or it just gets too difficult. If I was with someone first, then they moved, I can deal with that fine, but I need to see them; can't never see them in real life.​

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[Ravenfreak]

I've been in 2 online relationships before but they weren't really for me. :\ I need to have a physical relationship. One did live close, but I don't drive and that was when I was getting back with my fiancee (well ex obviously at the time) so I broke it off with that girl. I'm not against it by any means, it's just not for me. :V

 

[Razer302]

I was in one before... But now we live together. It was very hard. It wasn't totally online as I met her in person 4 years ago and we got talking after that. But when she went back home to America we both realised how much we missed eachother so that is when it all began.

Niether one of us thought it would work so we ended up dating other people me in the process having a child with one of them till eventually coming to a point where we were both single and decided to give it a go... Now we live together and couldn't be happier. So yes it does work. Just isn't for everyone. Key thing is trust.

 

[Oryx]

On a completely serious and non-facetious note, what makes a purely online relationship (i.e. never actually meeting each other in the flesh over at any time during the time together) an actual relationship as opposed to a friendship? I can understand relationships that start offline then move online for one reason or another, and I can also understand relationships that start online before eventually gravitating into the online sphere... but ones that start online and remain online do confuse me on a conceptual level. What is it that makes them a relationship?

So, the above probably summarises my feelings towards online dating. For me, I guess I'd need some form of physical contact (not necessarily sex; more just the intimacy that comes from being with someone) in order to classify it as a relationship.

It's the romantic attraction. If you take into account that there are webcams and Skype, there can be pretty much every kind of interaction just without the physical touch. It would probably be very similar to a relationship between two asexual people; you don't need to touch to be in love with someone. I'm not online-only with my boyfriend, but he's long distance right now and some days I'll spend 8-10 hours on Skype with him, which is intimate enough for a relationship if you care about them in a romantic way.

That being said, I did online once but I could never do it again. I need real life companionship too much and even a few months away from Tom makes me lonely and miss him.

 

[mew42003]

It's a waste of time in most cases. Personally all experiences I've had with it were very sour.. Some took a real toll on me emotionally. It works out sometimes but can be very misleading... How people act behind a computer screen or over the phone can be a lot different from how they act in person.

 

[Broken_Arrow]

yeah,i'm at one right now...we started as friends and ^ no it's not a waste of time...it's a great time if you know how to spend it...yeah we miss how the other feel and yeah we miss being close to them in hard times...but also those show if we really care or not..something a person in real would pretend..and the memories stay as long as you keep the old messages..sometimes irl you lose some details..i agree with you it's hard it's very hard but the more it's hard for you and you wanna keep it the more you really value the person with you.

i think my current relationship is awesome and my bf is the best in the world..at least for me but i wouldn't find someone better irl,i wouldn't spend such a great happy times like i spent with him and also sharing the bad time however i wish to help more but i try my best and i bet same for him....a friend told me you go through online relation cuz you're afraid of irl ones...well,there is no difference as we both are in the same planet it's so possible we can meet so i'm not afraid of irl like he said i just found a great person but lives further than those who we call "irl".

i respect him and highly value him..so if it happened and we separated because of any reason..i will keep respecting and caring (loving) him..and it will stay as one of the best things that happened for me..so..^ don't call someone who gave you his\her time and care and love..wasting of time..that's cruel.

 

[Algo Fonix]

I was in a distance relationship for almost three years. Absolutely would not do it again. It's great when things are going ok, but it's just way too emotionally taxing to be much worth it when things aren't good. I think if you can find someone close to you, you'll probably end up a lot happier.

Not to say it can't work, but I don't think it's worth it.

 

[Sydian]

You both have to be really committed to it. But I think it can definitely work. As it's been pointed out a million times in this thread, there's Matthew and Ashley. So, I guess in a sense, if you ever get into an online relationship or want to get in one, you can look at how it ended for those two and know it's definitely possible. Or those match.com commercials, haha. But yeah. If you've both got your heart into it, you can pull through.