Hi Kojip, you've raised some important points here, so I wanted to chime in a bit late. My view is somewhat cliche, in that there is room for both online and physical elements. Intention and circumstance are what separate flexibility from laziness.
In my career, I work rotating shifts and days off. The local zen group, by contrast, meets once a week on Sunday morning. The vast majority of the time I'm either working, or have just come off a night shift. So, I sit online. Unfortunately, as you illustrated, this tends towards an empty hangout. While the morning G+ folks sit I'm usually putting on my uniform and walking out the door, or on shift already.
I hope I can synthesize these elements. On my work days I will most likely continue to sit alone on G+ (except for the occasional person who is able to join). On days off I should make a greater effort to sit with a group, be it Myoku/Shokai, Kojip/Ron, or some of the European folks at (my) mid-day.
After reading the above, I'm not really sure how it will advance anything in your essay. I hope something in it is helpful. If not, well.... it's time to sit anyhow.
Gassho,
Shujin