I feel exactly the same way! I have internet friends who are very, very dear to me that I have never met IRL. And I'm sick of having to defend myself when chatting to RL friends when I say "I was talking about this on livejournal and one of my friends said..." People roll their eyes and make very irritating assumptions. There is also the idea that internet friendships are something "for teenagers". I mostly refer to my dear internet friends as "pen pals" because most people IRL seem to respect the tradition far more.

As a woman who switches between several masks a day, what you've said about personae really resonates with me. The internet is definitely a place I use in order to remove those masks.

Thank you for posting this! <3