Of course they can! Naturally some people only come online for a giggle and will type, and pretend to be anything in order to do so! But some don’t….
Real friends cannot be switched off, blocked or deleted tho, or shouldn’t be anyway.
Every so often life does throw up a friendship tester. I had mine towards the end of the summer and the results were surprising. Those who I thought would be there for me weren’t while people I never thought gave a **** were there to offer some support!
That’s life I guess…