So, what's better? Friends you've made here who are essentially fantasy - but are kind, compassionate and understanding -or- people you know IRL who are judgemental, unreliable and even worse? Having the safety of anonymity has allowed me to open up in ways that are impossible IRL. My best friend is someone I met here - and we have met in person - but distance makes that very rare. I DO wish we lived closer - but I am so fortunate to have met her! So, I guess what I'm saying is this - its not that one is better than the other - they are just different, each with their good and bad points. I just seem to have developed a much more meaningful relationship here.