sure it is, you can be ANYONE you want when you are online. Online, you are not who you except in the most general sense; you are who or what other people project upon you to be. If people want to project that you are an asshole (as an example) then everything you say or do is colored by that projection. Even the most innocent comment suddenly becomes rude and antisocial in their eyes.
I prefer real life relationships, for the reasons stated by @erichw1504 above. People cannot judge you for your fat hips, your short stature, a big nose, horrible complexion, or whatever flaw you bear in real life. Even on this site, peole choose an avatar to project what they want people to think of them, and some would never in a million years put their real face out there. They say it is to prevent stalkers and to protect their identity, but is it really? I’m skeptical.
In today’s world, you can google your name and find out all sorts of disturbing things that exist about you in cyberspace. There is no real privacy anymore, and anyone who thinks there is, is fooling themselves.
That said, I have a very close friend of over a decade that I have never met in person. We spent several hours every Sunday on the phone, we have communicated in IM, by turtle mail, and we celebrate each other’s highs and lows in life. We are very close, he knows stuff about me that only my wife does, and the other way around. We even send gifts and email each other frequently.
I want to meet him but the fact that he lives near LA creates a problem for me, as have anxiety about being far from home. Anything over 500 miles is a problem. Great Question by the way.