I've seen people make friends online. I've seen people rip each other's throats out online too. There is no sound, no staring into the eyes of the other person, and only words. If human feelings like that can be channeled easily across the internet, fuelled by thought, pride, shame, anger, happiness, and hurt; what makes online relationships so hard to believe, in terms of existence?
Debaters argue about whether or not life-forms can exist on distant planets or stars, and when it comes down to relativism, it's always a 50/50 chance - either life-forms can exist on them, or not. It's either one or the other, until proven. Unlike that, there are so many cases of online relationships that work out and transform into marriage, while others fizzle out pitifully. What other proof is necessary? I believe that it's all down to a matter of opinion on the subject, rather than whether it works or not. You either believe in online relationships, or you don't. But they'll always exist, regardless of your opinion.
Sure, people like proof. It's always down to statistics, images, cold hard facts; but yet cynics deny 'words', deeming them as 'just words that people splatter across a screen, and it could be true or false, nobody knows if you're lying' - but is that so? People believe in webcams, photographs, and anything that could mark as a proof of existence, gender, looks, or sincerity. It comes down to 'trust' and 'belief' in the end; and if you can believe in statistics and carefully worded publications, why can't the words that people type out on the internet be trusted, even just a little? There's the running risk that you could be talking to a liar, but hey, look on the optimistic side of life - the liar's wasting his or her time (that could be used for other useful things, such as grocery shopping or homework) trying to catch your attention. Anyway, webcams and images could contain lies just as well as words can be manipulated, but they all can contain some element of truth to them as well.
Yes, yes. Sex offenders. Serial killers. Predators. Vore RPers. Cyber-crazed maniacs. Liars. Cheaters. Wife beaters. Pedophiles. Children. Sirens. Manipulators. Two-timers. You name it. Everything and everyone could be lurking online, waiting to hunt down anyone and everyone. You might never meet one, and there's no way to prove a person is one until you meet and get attacked/cheated on/lied to/rejected/raped/molested/donestuffto, but there's also the chance that you might never meet one. Of course, be careful who you talk to, and watch out who you meet, but it's all down to trust and belief still, isn't it? Some teenagers (and even adults) go online to find people to talk to, perhaps for love, friendship, or even escapism from real life. It's not the fault of the internet for meeting the wrong people, nor is it the fault of a person's rusty webcam with crappy resolution - it just happens. Yet, despite all the bad that can happen online, there are still those who find happiness, everlasting or momentary. And all of this is real. It's happening. There are people behind the screen. Good, bad, evil, twisted, wonderful, loving, and angst-ridden - we're not robots. Hell, if you took time to read this post or even post in this thread to defend your beliefs or thoughts on this subject, it means that you're real. It means that even the cynics behind the screen are real. So what makes online relationships and friendships not real?
Finally, let's bring this down to personal encounters and experiences. Sure, not everybody can relate to the wonderful experiences some have when it comes to online relationships, but I've seen it happen - A and B fell in love online for a long period of time, met once, and he decided that he would propose to her the second time she visited. Recently, they met up less than a month ago (their second time ever). She went home with an engagement ring. Such a lack of physicality in that relationship, but yet so much love. I guess that's what made me know that online relationships could exist, and extend into something more, if both parties desire to. Not to mention my own, personal experiences. And so the cynics say that it's all a lie, and that falling in love online is stupid, and possibly for those who have no luck in real life. Falling in love online doesn't make you any less human, or a fool - not at all. Some search for love online because they need some form of escapism from their pain-filled 'real life', some just happen to find themselves attracted to those they meet online - there are so many possibilities. Some even find themselves in the situation where they have somebody physically within their grasp offline, yet find themselves attracted to the people they meet online. Why is this? Why fall for words, words that could mean anything? One reason - we, as humans, trust and believe what we want to acknowledge as truth. We know that it's not an image or illusion, but a person behind the screen. Of course, that person could be lying about themselves completely and cruelly, but heck - it's still a person. You could end up hurt or better off (in love, married, etcetera) - that's down to your circumstances. But what part of channeling human emotions and conveying those thoughts into words are not real?
I've fallen in love online. I've hated online. I've been rejected, hurt, and cut off, loved, liked, trusted, befriended online. I've even been denied my own existence, kicked to the curb as an image online that 'could be anyone behind the screen, male, female, old, young' - labeled as unreal, simply because I was someone he met online. Of course, that hurt; coming from somebody I loved for so long. But all my feelings towards him - love, hate, bitterness... they're all real. Even he, who denied the possible existence of online relationships, felt hurt when I retaliated to his hurtful remarks with my own. Perhaps he was not as wounded as I was, no - not even close, but he would've felt it. And that, in essence, made us both human. Just online - stealing away the ability to slap, see tears, and the sound of a person screaming silently in frustration. But the pain and emotions were all there, channeled through words, awkward silences, and an IM box.
I thought for a while, after that - that online relationships were not something I would dabble in again, since experience and being jaded taught me a few truths about real life, the internet, and human nature, but then... wouldn't I be becoming the narrow-minded person I swore never to become? I fall in love, offline and online, and both ways, I put my trust in those I fall for - both ways, I can be cheated, twisted, rejected, and thrown away, but it's all... a part of life.
At the end of it all, it's down to individual trust and what you choose to believe in - and that in itself makes it human, so wouldn't it be a narrow-minded lie to say that online relationships don't exist... or are unreal?