This key difference provides a large disparity between online and traditional relationships.
Online relationships can be viewed as a form of personal or emotional escapade or even a pastime. In both cases a relationship in a virtual environment can rely upon disinhibition. For example various studies conducted over the last couple of years have provided evidence that suggests "girls with high levels of conflict with parents or [who] were highly troubled were more likely than other girls to have close online relationships, as were boys who had low levels of communication with parents or were highly troubled, compared to other boys- (Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor, 2003, p. 105-119). In other words, online relationships provide a form of escapism for individuals who are looking for ways to avoid the personal stress that they may be encountering in real life. Therefore they seek to create a new identity for themselves in an environment that they can control namely the Internet such that they could indulge in activities that they usually would not and thus seek satisfaction from it. Thus they go through a form of cyberspace disinhibition. This is not to say that all internet relationships exist only to avoid the rigors of daily life; many people turn to the internet as a provider of a means of "harmless diversion- (Ibanez, 2002, p. 43). People often indulge in cyber-relationships in order to experience something that is distinctly unlike what they may experience in real life due to the lack of physical contact. They look at it as a form of "virtual interaction- which "allows them to meet their [ ] social needs- (Gavin, 2001, p. 623) which might have remained unquenched during the course of interpersonal relationships formed offline. Often people become bored of the usual interactions that they may be involved in reality. When real life cannot possibly meet their social needs they look toward alternate avenues, forming online relationships that may be able to provide them with the kind of satisfaction that they seek.