@leip4Ier
IMO communicating over text is definitely different than talking. Not better, not worse, but has some pros and cons.
As you've already said, it doesn't make you anxious, which is one
advantage. Another is that people are not expected to reply immediately, and have an option to think twice before sending a message.
OTOH, text doesn't convey non-verbal information. And while some people (probably me) fail to notice a lot of non-verbal information even when talking face to face, most of the time it's at least possible to tell if the person is joking or angry.
A few years ago, I remember using a lot of emoticons with very specific meaning to convey some of that information, and it worked really well, but it looks like it kinda faded these days...
Until 4 years ago I too lived in the middle of nowhere. I met my best friends on the internet. Because, it's indeed hard to find someone with common interests nearby.