Internet ?= Less Real

I wondered recently why it is that some people have a tendency to view internet life in opposition to what they would consider "real life". For instance, we might have a tendency to scoff at someone who met their wife on Facebook or some other social network. But why? When I thought about it (which is what I like to do to make sense of things rather than just accepting a blind opinion), I thought about how we have a body here, but can we say that body defines us? What is it that drives this body? The body is a vehicle, with tools available for us to express whatever it is that is inside - i.e. we can speak, we can write, we can sing, we can play music, we can dance, etc. etc. But still, whatever it is that we do, we are only using the tools available to us in the vehicle. For instance, we could lose a hand in an accident and then we wouldn't have that anymore. Or we could hold onto an object and use that object to express ourselves, such as a paintbrush. What is it about the paintbrush in your hand that makes it not part of your body? I don't think there is a difference while you're holding it, because while you're holding it, it is an extension of your being, a vehicle for expression. If there were no air in between us then we'd have to communicate with something other than sound. It's all about what is available to us.

So how is internet life different? It's just a different set of tools, right? It's not really either good or bad, but can be used for either. Not everyone scoffs at the internet, but I've noticed in the older generation that many of them act as though the internet is less real than "real life", which maybe often it is, but I know relationships that formed online that are more genuine than many I've seen in "real life".