I found this article over the net and I think it describes pretty well what an internet friendship is. There are also some cautions that any net user must be aware of.

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The Internet is becoming a very popular way of meeting people and making friends today. There are many different ways you can meet people on the internet, many different chat rooms, message boards and personal pages. Maintaining these new found friendships can be difficult though and getting to know someone well over the internet and creating a lasting friendship is a hard task.

If you are looking to make friends using the medium of the Internet, the easiest place to meet people is in a chat room. Try going into a chat room that has a topic of interest to you, or a chat room specifically catering to your age group. This way you will meet people with similar interests to yourself and you will have something to initially get the conversations going.

Once you have met someone on the Internet it is best to find out as much as you can about them early on. Never give out too much personal information on yourself. Although the person you are chatting with may seem trustworthy, you never really know whom or what is at the other end of the conversation, so be aware.

Internet friendships are like any other friendship in the fact that to be maintained you have to work on them. If you are expecting to make a good friendship on the Internet, you cannot just log in every few months when you are bored and expect your friend to welcome you with open arms. If you are looking to make the friendship work, chat, email, keep in contact with the person and get to know more about them and build trust. Ask the person questions and share information about yourself but never give details that could put you at risk, such as your address and phone number etc.

Many people choose to phone or meet some of the friends they make online. This can be good for the friendship but it is also very risky. Never meet or ring someone you are unsure of or don't feel you could trust. If you are going to give your friend your phone number, just keep in mind they that may just ring whenever they feel like it. If you are going to meet your friend, play it safe. Meet in a public place and even perhaps take someone you trust along with you. This person that you take with you could either meet your Internet friend with you, or they could just watch from afar to make sure that everything seems to be going ok. Don't take risks that you wouldn't usually take just because you feel like you know your Internet friend because perhaps you have been chatting online for such a long time. If you wouldn't usually hang out alone with someone you just met, don't do it now! Once you know the person better and trust them, you will be better able to decipher what is right and safe for you to do.

Be prepared when you meet or call your Internet friends. Remember that all you will know about this person is what they have told you and they could be lying. They may not necessarily look or sound or be like what that they say they are, and you may be disappointed.

Friendships come and go and this may end up being the case with some of your Internet friendships. If you want them to stand the test of time though, put the work in and be a good friend to the other person too. Many people find it very easy to meet people on the Internet. The lack of personal contact makes people feel less vulnerable and gives confidence that many people do not have with people usually. This is great but it can also be a downfall, as confidence can lead people to task risks that they wouldn't usually and can open people up to get hurt. Enjoy the Internet and making friends online but always remember to be careful and play it safe.

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From my part, I just have to add that if you're going to meet someone from the net, let a friend or family member know about his personal and contact details. For your own safety, never disclose your e-mail password, credit card number, account password, pin, or any other details like that to anybody over the net.

Be safe and enjoy your e-friends!

I like this part

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Once you have met someone on the Internet it is best to find out as much as you can about them early on. Never give out too much personal information on yourself. Although the person you are chatting with may seem trustworthy, you never really know whom or what is at the other end of the conversation, so be aware.

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I got a lot of friends through internet. Even before I came to this chat I was eager to meet other people from various countries. Frankly telling you I went to yahoo chat rooms at first. I'm very disappointed by the way they talk, I really hated the language and the culture in there. I found only spams, profanity and text jargon and all that in every room. I really wanted a change. I searched google and end up in English Forums. At first the pace of this chat always confused me. So I keep my patience and I still remember that the first day itself was so horrible for me because some user was targeting my country and culture and all that. I didn't know the rules in here and frankly speaking I reacted to him in a rude manner too. Like the moral of a good story " When we move on to a place which is strange to us, there will be people who is good, courteous, helping etc but there are people who behave in the opposite manner also". Anyway later I come to know the person who attacked me comes once in a while and does this to everyone. Anyway I found most of the people in here very loving, caring and I got many friends from different part of the world which are very close to me. I learned a lot from them and will be studying so many things in the coming days too. They helped me in many ways too. Well the thing which make me sad is this I've lost a lot of friends too without any knowledge. Maybe they can't come to online anymore or maybe they have some problem which they are not coming or maybe they forget about this. Anyway I hope they are OK where ever they are and I hope they will come back soon.

I have to ask Ruslana one thing that if she married to a person who met through Internet. I think we've talked about this a long time ago. If I'm wrong please forgive me. :)

Anyway it's lucky to have a friend through Internet and then Best friend and then spouse. Those things will not happen everyday. So those people are lucky if they got thier partner and they think it's best for them. :)

JJ

I don't know what to say.but friendship is always beautiful for me.

Is it possible if someone will be my close friend forever?or it is depend on me only?

for my experince it was beautiful at first,but everything has changed when time past. :(

by the way i felt sad but didn't know how to do.any suggestion for me? :)

thanks for good relationship to my all internet friends.I'm missing you and I hope that you still remember me.:)

I have many friends on the internet and I met two of them in real life. :) One is a user of TCP, BurakYS. He lives in Bursa, in my city. And the other one is a girl from Morocco. We have been friends for four years and this summer she decided to visit Bursa with her family. At last, our families met with each other too.