text: do you believe in online love affairs? i mean totally online, no personal contact at all. i've spent a lot of time in yahoo! games over almost 7 years. i usually frequent the same rooms when i play, so i've become familiar with the screen names and the people behind them. i've often seen these people engaged in relationships though they have never met, and will most likely never meet. almost without fail these so-called relationships end badly, usually one person has told serious lies about themselves to the other. the people behind the screen names are often fake, but the emotional damage they can cause is quite real. if you'll never meet, and nothing can come of it, what's the point? i have a friend that is in an online "relationship" right now, for the past 8 months. she constantly refers to him as her man and calls him by the name that he gave her, which is mark. they keep making plans to meet, but one or the other of them ends up having to cancel.  everytime i hear her talking about him, it makes me want to puke. she doesn't know him. she knows nothing about him, yet she talks about him so "lovingly". she's a pretty girl, but she's shy and she's insecure.  i think online love affairs gives people the freedom and confidence to be who they wish they could be. she's able to say things to this guy that she could never say to someone's face. she's also able to lead him to believe that she looks a certain way (the way that she wishes she really does look).  i think it's pathetic and sad. i do not believe in online love affairs. the whole idea is fake and it allows people to continue being less than who they want to be in their real lives, while living a double-life with an online alter-ego. it's just not healthy.