(sorry about the long post)
yes. you can learn the same words to come out of a teacher's mouth by instead reading the information on the internet. the trouble is to know what you need to read about.
there is a different between learning guitar to casually play along to other songs… and really _learning_ guitar. the first way, nobody ever really learns anything that matters. if you really want to _learn_ guitar you have to put in some work, plain and simple. just like anything else you want to learn or refine.
here is a guideline in rough order that you can work on over time:
1. learn the note names on the fretboard on each string from "open" up to the third fret. in time, learn the C Major scale over the entire fretboard (absolutely invaluable if you want to play electric and do any kind of intricate or lead-style playing, or improvisation, or blues, or whatever… anything besides just strumming the same chord over and over)
2. learn the "standard 21" chords. these are the Major, Minor and Dominant 7 chords for the roots A, B, C, D, E, F, G. when playing the chord shapes, practice more on learning the fretboard. try to name what notes you are playing when you hold a chord shape.
3. learn basic music theory. you don't have to get into the advanced stuff. but you should learn atleast:
3.1: how the major and minor scales are made (and then you can make any major or minor scale on the fly, and also it is instant knowledge for arranging chords, later on.. you'll instantly be able to name the chords you make, and also figure out how to play new chords you've never seen before just from their name, AND if you familiarize with keys then you can instantly know what you can play in any key!)
3.2: how chords are made and why they are named what they are. each chord is referencing a specific "pattern relationship" to the Major scale of the note you're playing. if you know what relationship a minor chord has to it's major scale, you instantly can make any minor chord even if you didn't previously know that specific chord. you might not know the fingering for it but you'd know the notes, and now with the notes you can figure out how to play it because you have worked on memorizing some of the fretboard (that's a simple example, it is priceless later on as it gets more advanced. trust me.)
some links:
http://www.guitarology.com/
http://www.guitarnoise.com/easy/
http://www.zentao.com/guitar/theory/
http://musicalmath.blogspot.com/
if you put in the work to understand exactly what you're doing at all times, guitar completely opens up and the only boundaries are how far your fingers can stretch. goodluck. don't get discouraged, either. even the greatest players had to go through that awkward phase of becoming familiar with playing guitar. what separates them is that they didn't give up and they put in hundreds of hours into playing and improving, relentlessly dedicated to it.
look on http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ for songs by bands you listen to, and try to learn those for fun.