Many want to say that relationships developed in online games or across online mediums like email or websites isn't a real thing, and that there isn't any importance there. However, many would argue against the fact and state there are some very real emotions and feelings going on, and even research would back them up and how online relationships can affect life outside.

From the article:

Even people who might point to the Montgomery case as an example of why the internet should be turned off forever know it's an extreme example. Meanwhile, the rest of us can say, "That's absurd, that doesn't apply to me at all," and still rush blindly into troubles of our own.

For all that I have broadened my horizons since the first Sex Drive column more than four years ago, I have yet to encounter anything that challenges my core belief: Relationships are real wherever they form.

That's why we're so desperate to pretend it's all fantasy if it's online, so we can make the hard, painful, life-crushing parts go away. And that's why I get my panties in a bunch when people try to dismiss the reality of sex in virtual spaces. I'm all for cybersex, of course, but let's not pretend it doesn't have real consequences

Read the full article over at wired.com