What e.b. said. Good place to hang out with people from around the world and exchange ideas.

I understand your concerns of misrepresentation, but I think you are focusing on the crap internet BDSM experience rather than the more positive one that can be had.

The internet is a means to a end, a process that can realize a lot of different goals, but of itself doesn't amount to much. It's the people behind it, and if they are creating an experience that is essentially shallow and superficial then it's a shame that it's held up as being 'real BDSM' and yes it's a shame if that happens to be someones first exposure to the scene. There are, I'm sure, similar people who acheive this in the real world though. You meet some guy who spouts a load of crap to an impressionable novice, he will misrepresent the whole thing too, but perhaps on a different scale.

For me it's a matter of weeding out the good from the bad. There are positive and negative r/l and o/l experiences to be had. I think this site achieves a good balance, focuses on what really matters and encourages relevant intelligent discussion in favour of addressing each other in daft ways.
I get a lot out of my o/l experience, I like to think, through circumspect internet use and recognizing the good from the bad.