Well, I got to know a girl that lives like 700mi/1000km away from Barcelona. We started chatting frequently, knowing more and more from each other until we discovered that we matched. We started then to call each other more. And I was about to book a flight to see her until she told me she was cheating and...
, you know...
Well, Ningc_Maniac, I'm sure it's not the same for everyone. but I didn't believe in it until it happened and I lived through it.
I can tell it was much more real than many people may think
(the pain was also very persistant)
Through the net you can judge other factors that are at least equally important that the ones you get from meeting someone in the real world. but, it's true that there's always something missing... (ahum, you know what I mean...
). but for the rest, there isn't a really big difference.
Edit: I always like to compare it with as if you where separated of that person by a glass, you can never touch the other, but the feeling is the same.