maybe you should get a real girl then asshole and stop complaining about your "miserable" life

You people are so closed-minded and ignorant. My fiancee who I've been with for almost 2 years now I met randomly through facebook and we didn't meet in person for about 4 months, but it's worked out just fine and we're happy. There was a time I didn't understand meeting online, but I see more and more now that most people won't get online relationships if they never tried it themselves (and I said MOST people; if you're one of the exceptions then good for you). Wake up and realize it doesn't matter how you meet initially as long as it works out at the end of the day. I mean yeah you have to be smart about it. People who think they're in love with someone they talk to online after only a few hours are being stupid yes, but not every online relationship is like that. I know several other people who have had online relationships too, and most of them have worked out thus far. I'll bet most of you on here think you're all "open-minded" but yet you bash something like this without really understanding anything about it. Even if it is an online relationship, if the girl can't even recognize the guy's face clearly she doesn't pay much attention or care about the relationship. That's not the guy's fault.

That isn't your girl friend, it's your pen pal, bud.

I did the LDR thing for a year before I moved so we could be together. I have to wonder about a relationship where there is so little personal contact - no in-person meetings, no sending pics of things you're doing, no attempt to be in each others' lives as much as the parameters permit - just seems odd to me with all the technology available.

Long distance relationships - Noooooooo

Long distance? More like internet girlfriend. :)

Just because they're long-distance doesn't mean Internet. Just because they're Internet doesn't mean they've never met. However, I think I can take from the OP's post that they probably haven't yet, unless there were technicalities in the image that could cause reasonable lack of recognition. It's kind of difficult to forget a face you've literally seen... unless it's been a very, very good while (but why would you go so long without seeing each other again?)... if you're dating, though, regardless, you would hope she would have pictures of you. Long-distance relationships are unbearable to me, personally. I wouldn't get into an official relationship until I could see them at least semi-regularly. The lack of physical contact is just ... unbearable. :c

For all of you slower folks (mentally, that is...) let me explain the rationale behind some of the comments here that you find so offensive. FML is supposed to be about humor. People tell their stupid stories and the rest of us get to laugh about it. FML is not supposed to be a sympathy site. If it was, there would be a link for you to send donations to the "FML Fund" which would have been established to help the poor FMLers in their time of need. With this in mind, consider the above original post and the two kinds of responses it has attracted: 1. Sympathy response: e.g. "oh you poor unlucky but good-hearted person, I am sure there are better girlfriends out there for you, just keep your head up and keep trying!" 2. Funnier response: e.g. "your 'girlfriend' probably isn't even a girl and you're a total dweeb for thinking that you even have a girlfriend, let alone for sending her a pic of your friends!" Which response is more reasonable, given the mission of this site? If you want to start the FML Fund for sympathetic people to contribute to, please do. But in the meantime, try not to get your panties in a bunch over people poking fun at the OPs.

People often look different in photographs. I think our brain has a harder time registering faces on photos than in person, too. Heck, it could even be a unique issue with her brain's ability to register!

Well... you can't say "true love" until you meet them. I mean, many people have a different personality on the net than they do in real life. And of course, seeing them physically is highly important. You need to see them before saying "but we're in true love!!11" because then it's really quite... not. You're just texting each other and speaking on phones. You can't know what a person is REALLY like until you've physically been with them. What I think you should say is "trust." You trust the person, in a way that can't really be described because the trust is connected with such high levels of affection, and you trust that they aren't decieving you and is actually how they say they are, then get to meet them to see if it's true. When you see the truth, and discover some things you didn't know about, you then get to move on to "true love"... or you don't. That happens too, of course. And no, it's not bad to start a relationship through the Internet, not at all, in fact my teacher met her husband on the Internet. But, it can't be termed "true love" until you've actually met. That being said, congrats on your meeting, hope you get to have more.