Is an Online, Virtual, or LDR a ‘Real’ Relationship?

[Flatmanlewis]

Is having somebody you call your boyfriend/girlfriend online, but you never, or very rarely, see them in person a real relationship?

Seems to me the absence of the small daily parts of a relationship such as meals together, dates, sleeping together, and all the little moments where you learn about a person, kind of stop the relationship from truly developing to a truly intimate level. Am I wrong here?

[NathanDavis]

it is a kind, of relationship...

just like many other different types of relationships

[Anonymous]

I think they can be if both people apply themselves.

[Flatmanlewis]

So, you don’t think the missing moments - shared in a conventional relationship - matter? For example, I know her facial expressions, I know her warmth from clinging to me during a scary movie, I know how she reads a book when she loves it versus when she has time read it. The little nuances of personality & quirkiness that cannot be shared by conversation alone.

[MissBoogus]

Nope, not real 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I had to be in one for a few years before realizing this

[Flatmanlewis]

So why do you think so many people are here on GaG with relationship problems that are in these pseudo-relationships?

[dudeinohio]

Nope