Are you in a relationship before you actually meet face-to-face?

The answer is subjective. If you FEEL you are then you are. And by a fashion we are all in a relationship with each other on this forum. It's much looser and not quite the exact same as the context but still it is a relationship even if just an acquaintance.

I tried the Long-distance Relationship thing and I came up with a couple of things. It doesn't matter if you're as nice and perfect as it gets because the person you're after probably isn't. The only way for it to work BEFORE you've actually met is for you both to be so totally into each other it is bordering on unhealthy.

The hard reality is people who can actually hold you are probably in the same zip code somewhere and out of the two of you one or both of you have exes or people you consider prospects in that area. If you're in a long distance relationship the odds of infidelity just...get so much higher since you can't offer anything to counter it without being there. Simple and tangible facts outweigh the noble power of midnight confessions too much of the time to be something to bank on to hold someone's heart for you like a claim check.

You can be in a relationship before meeting but the odds are it won't be the same after you meet. Even if you are everything you say you are the odds are the other person isn't. Or it can be the other way around and they can be everything they said they would be and you crack under the pressure of this impression you created and really drop the ball. It's an unfair amount of stress on both sides. Not to mention the whole "I met them on the internet so they can be some kind of crazed axe murdering stalker so I can't get past the shyness and awkward moments or explain it to my parents and anyone I know without looking crazy for saying I let a perfect stranger in the house to "talk" to me for the first time" That whole little thing...too hard to work past to make things work unless you can reasonably assure yourself of truth and even then outside of all of that...

Nothing is guaranteed. Words are just that until your eyes meet with nothing but air between them.

Bottom line. You can but it's probably not smart so I will suggest you shouldn't for your own as well as their physical and emotional safety.

darn i thouhgt you were going to say you were bi-curious

I did it a few times. One time was exactly what I needed at that time. He made me smile and truly melted my heart with every word that he wrote. In the end, I needed something I could touch. It just wasn't enough. Makes me sad, because his heart touched mine greatly and I will always have a place for him deep down.