There are certainly people on WP that I have respect for, and those whose "converstation" that I enjoy, but this has not developed into any attraction.
That's not to say that attraction requires face-to-face communication--I have certainly been infatuated with people that I know on the internet in other contexts--but so far I have not developed a strong enough relationship with anyone on the board for that to present itself as a possibility.
I would think that there would need to be a few factors in place before an attraction would develop on my part for a person I knew only on the internet:
1) Another gay male (a bit obvious, but it does narrow the potential pool considerably)
2) An established pattern of one-on-one communication. Posts on forum threads does not provide a sufficient basis, and even the exchange of PMs lacks immediacy.
3) A body of mutually shared interests beyond sexual orientation. It's not enough that he's a gay man. (It's not even enough that he's a hot, gay man). Absent a "click" that goes beyond the physiological, I'm simply not going to be attracted to him.
(Though substitute "aroused by" for "attracted to" and we could be having a totally different conversation about people on the internet!)
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--James