Mark Twain wrote about this. Tom Sawyer and his friends disappeared for a few days and were presumed dead; then they showed up at their own funeral. It was written as a comical scene.

Twain counted on his readers to empathize with the boys. He knew human nature pretty well, and he knew we'd all secretly like to witness our own funerals, and hear the nice things people would say about us.

In Tom Sawyer's case, the misunderstanding was accidental. We'd have a lot less sympathy if they had deliberately faked their own deaths.

You can get away with a lot on the Internet. You can erase any past shame by coming back with a new handle and pretending to be a different person. You can even invent multiple personalities and have arguments with yourself. People who crave drama can create a hell of a lot of it on a talk forum like Mudcat.

That's why I recommend not getting emotionally involved in this medium. Save your affection for the people you meet face to face.