Can You Love Someone You Have Never Met but Talk to Daily?

You know everything about one another – favorite film, favorite foods, childhood memories, future hopes and dreams. You find yourself daydreaming, thinking of his picture and the sound of his voice. Is this love, lust or something else entirely? Despite long conversations every day, it can be all too confusing to know if it is real – especially given the fact that you've never actually met in person.

It is easier to have meaningful communication through writing than by physically interacting, said Aaron Ben-Ze'ev, philosophy professor at the University of Haifa, Israel, and author of the book, “Love Online: Emotions on The Internet,” quoted in the article, "Why It's Really Possible To Fall In Love Online," on the CNN website. Not being able to see each other enables you to focus on thoughts, feelings, core values and important conversations. On the phone or online, you don’t have to pretend to be interested in something and can focus on stories from your past that create a bond.

For those of legal age, the Internet is a great way for like-minded people with similar interests who live far apart to meet and fall in love, according to the CNN article. Fostering a relationship on the phone removes the superficial obstacles that would keep people apart had they met in person. A woman may not give a guy a second look if he acted awkward; just as a man might not get to know a woman he didn't immediately find attractive.

Online dating and phone dating are good ways for people in college or who are just starting out in a career to get to know each other. If one person looks like a model, he or she might come off as inapproachable in person. Likewise, someone who is in a high position at work or is well known in the media might come across as unattainable.

Make sure you have vetted your romantic partner by looking him up online and checking out that he isn't lying to you. Don't fall in love with someone you talk to on the phone until you’ve met in person, warns Melanie Greenberg, a clinical psychologist, in the article, "Online Dating May Lead to Love, But Has Its Perils Too," on Psychology Today's website. It is possible they could be posing as someone they are not. An older man can pose as a teen; sex offenders and criminals with records can hide their true nature. It pays to be cautious.

Online dating is "a bad idea for teens,” especially those still in middle school and high school, writes pediatrician Claire McCarthy from Boston’s Children’s Hospital in the Huffington Post article “Online Dating for Teens? Why Parents Need to Talk About Online Relationships.” It is one thing for a college student to make mature decisions about an online relationship, but a younger teen doesn’t have that experience. Teen dating should be done in the real world. If a teen is talking to someone on social media that they haven’t met, it should be under a parent’s constant supervision.