I searched and couldn't find anything — though that surprises me.
It feels like there are hard to express differences between knowing a person in real life – people I work with, people I went to school with, that sort of thing – and knowing a person online, such as people you play online games with or people you interact with via forums and posts.
I still feel like I know these online-people, or at least, some slice of a persona that they present to me — but the word 'know' doesn't quite feel right, as it at least feels like it should be more different than the word I use to describe knowing someone in real life.
However, guy-I-know-online or lady-I-know-from-forum-postings is really awkward and doesn't feel right either. Is there any word that has any kind of common use that attempts to address this difference?
Best Answer
It's true that the experience of "knowing" someone online is different to knowing them in RealLife™, but it's also true that the experience of "knowing" someone varies a lot in real life too (there are many people that I have spoken to hundreds of times, yet only know them superficially — having never done more than pass the time of day; by contrast there are people with whom I have spent much less time — but whom I feel I know much better, having — say — experienced a common trauma!).
Therefore using the same terminology for online acquaintances as in real life — qualifying it appropriately — seems to be a natural extension. Compare: