I think it's real. People can fall in love online. There have been many people who have fallen in love online and actually met up and they were happy. The man wasn't a rapist or anything like that. I have had online relationships as well. I don't go out and socialise but I socialise more on the internet. It's okay for 17 year olds to fall in love. I fell in love with people when I was 17. I think you should keep on holding on. If he is very nice and seems decent then you should. If people say something bad about online relationships, don't let people tell you what to do I hope I have helped