[€uroMeinke]

I think things are evolving to where there isn't such a dichotomy of online versus real life friends. More and more among the people I know the two blend. Real life friends join each other's social networks which beget new friends that often you eventually meet in real life. Lisa and I have met people in Paris and Tokyo that we never had seen before in real life and got along just as if we had.

To be sure you can spoof your identity, change your gender, and all that, but I think more and more that becomes a diversion and not an everyday practice. I see parallels to the work life and home life dichotomy, we assume certain identities at work, have relations with our colleagues, that are separate but often blend.