Cyber Relationship: Cheating or Not?

In the internet age, connections with people from all over the country and even the world are now as simple as a few clicks of a keyboard and mouse. We are able to virtually ‘meet’ people we never would have had an opportunity to meet before. The anonymity of the internet in one respect provides the perfect cover for us to let our guard down and be ourselves, without apology, to people miles and miles away. There is a sense of safety in spilling our hurts and emotions to someone we know we may never meet in person.

Cyberspace relationships are becoming more and more common. There was a time when people gasped in shock when a couple would say they had met on the internet, but nowadays, it is becoming the norm. Even when people don’t meet through the internet, it seems a good portion of our communication is via electronic means – phone, text messages, email, blogs, and instant messengers.

For many, cyber relationships have granted the web surfer a group of friends and acquaintances that the person might never have had otherwise, taking shy, reclusive, homebound, ill or otherwise unsociable people and giving them an outlet to surround themselves with cyber friends. For some, these relationships can be very real, rewarding and fulfilling.

But what of those who already have relationships in their day-to-day lives, but still seek out those cyber relationships with others? One reason for this, again, is the anonymity of the whole internet scene.

If a husband is having problems with his wife, they are arguing and fighting all the time, and he feels she doesn’t listen to him anymore, he is only a few keystrokes away from some woman who is wiling to give him what he needs, without any other responsibilities of a relationship.

If a woman is fighting with her husband, feels unappreciated and taken for granted, she has only to turn on her monitor and connect to the internet to find a man on the other side of the screen who will tell her all those things her wounded ego needs to hear.