When I was younger I thought that online relationships were the best thing since sliced bread. Being that I'd never actually had a real girlfriend (offline that is), it gave me some access to some badly-desired "romance". I got rather emotional with them.
Now I realize how pointless those relationships were. I don't regret them, as they gave me some experience that I can use elsewhere, but I realize now how... I don't know... useless they were. I had no idea who those people really were, and likewise they had no idea who I really was. But it was nice to feel "loved" by someone that wasn't a member of my family, I can't deny that.
I truly loved the person I was in a relationship with, there's no doubt about that, but it can often be difficult to really know if the other person truly feels the same. Typing out "I love you" really has no emotional value to it, when you stop and think about it. It can be taken one of many different ways. When spoken in-person this isn't the case, but online, who knows the true meaning the person has for it, or if they even mean it?
Maybe I'm just biased after the bad times I've had, but I always felt like I was the one who was always doing all of the work. I never felt like my "partner" was making any real effort to keep the relationship going. But then again, how do I know? Text is just text. It has no emotional value behind it.
All but one of my online relationships ended the exact same way-- with my online "girlfriend" finding someone offline and dropping me like a bad habit. So maybe I'm just a bit bitter.
I'm still single, still have never actually had a true girlfriend, but at least those online relationships built up a little bit of confidence in me, albeit not much. I still feel quite useless and hopeless when it comes to love. That said, it's been about five years now since I last had any online relationship, and as much as I hate to admit it, despite all the problems we went through I still carry a torch for the last young lady who gave me the boot.
But it's safe to say that I'll never do an online relationship again. At least not unless I can actually meet that person, see them face-to-face in the near future. Online relationships are just too much hassle and stress for too little reward.
....I say that, and yet I know that if I ever found another person online that I really liked, and who liked me in return, I'd no doubt try a long-distance relationship with them. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. I just hate the feeling of being alone, being hopeless.
I'd much rather have an offline relationship...
(Because nothing's hotter than a grown man humiliating himself trying to hookup on the internet, right?) ;D
Originally Posted by Blue Leader
