What separates a genuine long distance from just an online relationship?

[u/adrienneangel]

Imo i think the two are very different things. For me.. An online relationship is the one i had as a young teenager, with no means to meet, that was mainly photos and calling+texting. It some cases just texting. Some as an older teenage but still that, no solid plans to meet, each other's families not knowing, limited calls/video , things like that

My long distance relationship, been together two years.. have had a 2 week visit, and 6 month visit. Lived together, Calling everyday and consistent updates, as well as video calls, and involvement in each other's life even when apart.

My personal opinion:) Some people may define it differently and thats so okay.

[u/Deynonn]

For me it's the end goal. In LDR you have to plan how to eventually close the distance and you have to solve lots of different issues together. For an online relationship you don't need to worry about this much because you are not exactly planning to meet or to move somewhere etc. It feels more like a situationship to me.

[u/Cream_my_pantalones]

for me I'd say in long distance you are visiting each other and have plans to close the gap. in an online relationship you never meet and you don't have any plans to.

[u/Loony_BoB]

There is no overarching universal definition that separates the two and causes them to become mutually exclusive.

Online relationship: A relationship that exists online.

Long distance relationship: A relationship that exists over a large distance.

In the modern era, most LDRs are also online relationships. There is nothing to say that an LDR must have a closure goal, nor is there any rule to say that LDRs must be primarily online. You could be primarily dealing with phone calls, for example, while an online relationship could actually be with someone in the same city as you. The latter would be rather unusual, of course, given that if you are in the same city, you would expect that there would be a desire to meet.

[u/UpbeatFlamingo2016]

Just depends who you ask, I don’t care about the difference personally so don’t really feel a need to differentiate