Is it possible to fall in love via social media and the phone but never meet the person face to face?

[Bud]

My grandfather, who became a widower in middle age without children, went to Europe in the 1920s with the specific purpose of hooking up with one of the many young women fiercely competing at that time and place for the small supply of available husbands following the tens of millions of deaths of young men in World War I. He had his pick, and hooked one right away.

How much traditional romantic love was involved, I do not know. But here I am. So I'm very glad they got together.

[M P A]

I am sure that it is possible to 'believe' that you have fallen in love with a pen friend, phone friend, internet friend etc. There have always been a few people (down the generations) who have travelled to meet up with someone they have corresponded with for a long time and felt sure that this was love. Some of these relationships have worked but many don't. We can all pretend to be something that we are not at a distance and should be very careful.

This particular case should act as a warning to many whether he was actually part of the hoax or not. It shows what people can do. The internet is a virtual world, not the real one.

[rollickingredsfan]

As for myself, I'm not falling in love with ANYONE until I meet her face - to - face .

Again, this story just reinforces my assertion that the internet / social media is extremely dangerous !

[Foolishshop847]

Absolutely.

[Foolishshop847]

I did get infatuated once, but I got over it quickly when they stopped communicating. It wasn't uncommon for people to "hook up" that way throughout history. But back then there were less lovers to choose from.

[June smiles]

I think not.

One could fall in love with the image formed in their mind of the person's personality. When meeting in person, that image could rapidly disappear. Not the scenario they imagined.

[Terry]

Until you meet and spend time together, it's infatuation not love. As for Manti Te’o, I'm skeptical that he was duped. Many have suggested that he's gay and needed a beard. Sorry if that offends anyone here.

[sophieb]

I'm not always right on stuff like this but perhaps that thing about the gf was a hoax. And I say that because I've been on the net twelve years and heard of that same situation twice already...one was a white girl and an Indian guy, he was mourning her demise and someone put up a website in honor of her demise. He asked me if I'd check it out since I lived in the USA where the white girl lived. Instead it was a black girl who did the deed, she wa sunder age and lived with her mother and was bored so thought this trick would be cute.....another time I heard of a canadian guy getting duped, the girl was always in messenger, I even talked with her via messenger, she was an artist and was asking for money to pencil draw pictures for people. Many months later he was depressed and I asked around and found she'd passed. Her brother came into the chatroom to say she'd passed and the hospital she was last in. Immediately I got on the horn to check it out. The brother's story was false, she'd never been to that hospital, she didn't die. Now I don't know if the so-called bf ever met her or not, but my guess is that she just wanted away from the canadian guy. Since she did have a child perhaps her ex or husband objected, idk. But these stories do exist.

My question about the college football player is why has there been no word about his grandmother who passed. I'm sure that would be more on his mind. Or maybe he just needs privacy right now while he mourns his grandmother's passing.

So it's clear that people can and do fall in love via social media and the phone without meeting face, and it's called "projection". We project onto a person what we want them to be.

Many a time after I've spoken with someone for a while t hey have provided me with some assumption they had (like that I'm 23, uneducted, live in a mobile home, etc. etc. when in fact I'm a senior citizen and retired, well educted, and live in an apartment, etc.). I just laugh. And after a year talking with one guy he said he came to talk with me because he liked my voice...the problem is I've never spoken on the internet.....lol.....but I realized who he thought I was, it was a sexy voice that came across the chatroom just before I entered. The internet is really creative.

Response to your last question...well 150 years ago there were traditional marriages, and they did marry sight unseen because their parents insisted that they marry that person....so falling in love thru fantasy was a good thing to let one do back then to make things easier for everyone.

[Autumn Leaves]

Probably easier because there's no reality to intrude on your fantasies.