I’ve met a small number of online friends in person after talking to them for years, always because I was working in or near their home towns. So, yes, I guess the same could apply for dating.

I had a co-worker about fifteen years ago who moved across the country because he met someone on a forum. (Well, there was more to it. He’d lost his very specialized database programming job and came to Los Angeles to get a new start, which he got by temporarily working as IT support for $EMPLOYER.) They moved in together, eventually wed, and AFAIK they’re still together.