The internet, as I may have said before now, is a Very Big Place.
Many, many people live here. 

It's likely that if you become part of any online community that you will find yourself becoming involved in relationships as strong as any you have or have had in "Real Life"?

Just as in Real Life, relationships online come in all different types.  There's the annoyingly poor-me type flirt who gets on your nerves just by saying "Hello", the person who knows everything and who you can count on to know the answer to your question, the harried, stressed one who will, in spite of his tiredness, make time for any problem... as long as you ask him to.

And just as in Real Life there are the few people with whom we just click. Some of these people cross the line and become Real Life friends, and some remain known only through what they choose to share online.

Online romantic relationships can be some of the most intense a person can ever experience. This intensity is heightened by the many frustrations that come with online communications; time zone differences, lack of money to fund long periods online, unreliable equipment cutting conversations off at moments of crisis (or at least of import) all add to the frustration which helps to build a relationship of this type up.

People seem to feel more able to talk about their real, personal feelings, about anything you might care to name, online than in Real Life. It is quite possible to find one's self in intensely personal conversations within minutes of meeting people in online situations - conversations that would not take place in Real Life for weeks or months after meeting.

There's also the fact that many of the people who spend long hours online are the people whose Real Life lives are somehow lacking. Lonely people, quite often, ripe to fall into deep emotional involvements.

How do online romances begin? I don't really know, anymore than I know how Real Life romances begin. Two people feel attracted to one another, spend more time together, and fall in love. The feelings are just as deep and just as real as those felt in relationships where the people involved are able to touch one another physically.

And the people involved in these love affairs are just as vulnerable to hurt as those in Real Life love affairs. It is far far easier to misunderstand the intention behind a written word than a spoken one. Arguments can blow up out of nowhere and nothing, leaving both people feeling shaken and confused. In a Real Life relationship it is usually possible to go to visit the loved one and talk the problem out, or at least telephone. In an online relationship it is likely the problem will remain unresolved for a long period of time - often 24 or more hours will pass before both parties can come together again and begin to resolve their differences.

Online relationships also contain much more scope for deception that Real Life ones. While it is possible for any person to cheat on their partner, only in online relationships is it possible to cuckold someone at the same time as making love to them.

In short, online love affairs are just as genuine as Real Life ones. They have the same highs and lows...

In fact, online relationships of all types mirror Real Life relationships... but happen harder and faster.

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