the best online friends are the people I've known for 15 years, whom I just message two/three times a year for a deep conversation.

IRL friends have too much IRL mess of scheduling, meeting up, solving the issue that friend A really dislikes friend B now yet you need to fit them at one party.

There have been people I’ve met online, then go to know and befriend offline. There are friends offline, who I’ve kept in touch with online. But there is nobody I know solely online that I would consider a friend, and it would take a lot to change that. IRL is simply a different thing altogether for me. It’s hard to imagine making a ‘real’ friend without try at IRL interaction.