VIRTURAL VS PHYSICAL FRIENDS?

With this new age of social networking and social groups you sometimes come across individuals whom you become aquainted with on a "virtual" basis. Over the last couple of years I have become a pretty active participant in "Ravelry". This is a group of knitters and/or crocheter's from all over not only the US but other countries. On this web site, there are differnt groups that I have joined and have struck up what I call "virtual friends". However, something has happened with these virtual friends, they have actually become what I call "physical friends". Through our friendship there are many things we have shared with each other. Can it be that because we may be located apart from each other that we share some of our most inner thoughts and/or opinions or is it something else? I used to think this but it is not true. It is like a physical friendship, there are those persons you like and those you don't like. I have also found that for myself instead of sometimes holding back when someone hurts my feelings and/or I do not agree with them, in a virtual environment I am more apt to not hold back how I feel. So I often wonder if others have virtual friends and if they have met them and how it went. I just met one of mine and will be posting about our encounter with my next post.......