Do You Feel Like You've Physically Met Someone In A Virtual World?

I came across a blog which referenced this article by Ari Kaplan which discusses Second Life in the context of marketing for attorneys (an under-appreciated aspect of modern society, perhaps?). Within the article, I found this:

...Second Life makes people feel as if they have physically met one another, Lieberman says...

Just to clear the air here - I don't feel like I've physically met anyone on my friend list within Second Life. Maybe I have some exotic condition which doesn't permit me to feel that I have physically met people because I've come across a prim-haired digital representation of them, complete with animation overrides that go from the laughable to the grotesque.

Frankly, when I see a rockstar looking male avatar, I think of a balding middle aged man stumbling his way across the keyboard between bites of pizza. And no offense, ladies (those of you that are real), I think the same of all the Ms. Universe pageant entries in Second Life as well.... (I also think that all the women on Gorean sims are just men, which makes the whole thing extremely pathetic). I somehow know that people are not as they represent themselves in Second Life - but that perhaps the way they have themselves represented communicates what they want others to think of them.

Meanwhile, I'm a penguin most of the time. Go figure. I can tell you that in the real world I am not a penguin, and I don't burst into flames and spontaneously do back flips.

I do not think that people whose avatars are furry are really furry in real life. I may revise that opinion the second I encounter a large group of furry folk frolicking in Central Park (without costumes).

But that's what I think.

Perhaps the most dangerous part of doing any business in virtual worlds, and specifically Second Life, is taking people at their avatar's face value. A 'newbie avatar' can mask anyone, and it may not do so fairly. Even the branding of Second Life by Linden Lab includes fashion - appearance; how one represents one's self in a virtual environment. But what does a well done avatar really say about a person at a keyboard? That they had enough disposable income to put it together, or enough time camping lucky chairs to put together a stream of outfits, skins and shapes? That's what it tells me.

But I'm just me. One person (multiple avatars). Does anyone feel that they've actually physically met someone because they have traded bytes with another avatar?