Monk

Yes, I can relate to that. A man can believe that he cannot rise to the dream, even if the big hurdle of her reciprocating his affections is overcome. I imagine the Internet makes this a more likely scenario. One can be afraid that attempting to make a reality of the flirtations and expressed feelings will only prove disastrous, so as to be worse than if his feelings were not reciprocated in the first place. Although loneliness is hard, a man gets used to it and even becomes comfortable in it, and one can prefer to keep the dreamy longings rather than seeing the hopes and dreams be made a mockery of by one's own shortcomings and inadequacies.

I don't know if this is accurate of your friend, but this is how I relate to your (pointed?) question.