E-cquaintance refers to a person known to another through online communication only (as via email, instant messenger or social networking website). The term is a blend of electronic and acquaintance, just like e-mail and e-commerce, where acquaintance means someone who you have met and know slightly, but not well. E-cquaintance指仅通过电子邮件、即时通讯工具或社交网站等网络环境互相认识的熟人，即“网络熟人”。这个说法是electronic（电子的）和acquaintance（熟人）两个词的合成形式，与电子邮件（e-mail）和电子商务(e-commerce)等词的构成方式一样，acquaintance一词指互相认识但不是太了解的人。 For example: I have quite a few e-cquaintances on Weibo, but I have never met them in real life. 我在微博上有好几个网络熟人，不过我从来没跟他们见过面。