Can you really have feelings for somebody you never met?

This is just something I have been wondering about. I know that a lot of people meet on the internet, whether they are actively looking for love or if they just happen to meet at a board like this, and sometimes they meet and everything is just as cool as it is online. But do you think that anybody can meet online, and maybe talk on the phone, see each other's pics, etc. etc., and really have true feelings for the other person before they have actually met and spent time together? I am not saying it's not possible, but from what I see, it seems like you may like the idea more than the reality since you haven't been around them. There are some people that I can talk to and get along with easy online or on the phone, but in person things can always be a lot different. I don't know if I can really explain my point as good as I want to...but many of y'all know that just being around somebody and havin like a silent presense can mean a lot, whether good or bad, in a way that you could never feel just from talkin to somebody on the phone or online. Also...a bit off topic, but if you really can have feelings for somebody like that, what IF somebody on the other end was completely different than what you thought they were, whether from their picture or description? I have not heard of anybody who thought they were talkin to a man/woman online and ended up meetin them and seein they were a woman/man, but I am sure it's happened. What do you think about that?