Recently met some new friends on IRC.
Its cool.  And i realised that the culture of "Hi..intro...stay.... seek..."  is pretty much alive !
That's ok by me.  And I made it clear to whoever pm me that I am seeking friends - only.
Really.  And I think this level of honesty and clarity can lead to purely interesting chat about life and such.
So I think, in the end, we can have proper net conversations.  As long as you make it clear and the other person is ok with it.
Semper fi !