Understand myself? I suppose a bit. The practice of writing is a grounding technique that promotes introspection.

Understand others? There are certainly some limitations to understanding people one only knows on a forum, yet some open up in some deeper ways behind a degree of anonymity.

Empathize with others more? Absolutely! As I wrote, others often open up in ways on forums they might not face-to-face. That can create a situation where one understands others' feelings, emotions, and struggles a little better, leading to empathy.

It's likely that some online friends may not have been friends in a face-to-face world...and vice versa. The addition of appearance and different forms of interpreted communication are factors not applicable on forums.