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The way the Internet has changed people’s lives is unquestionable. It has made it better in so many ways, but most of all, it has made it very easy for you to meet new people and potentially fall in love.
When two people meet online and start feeling something about each other without ever actually meeting each other, it sounds romantic. But when you add a little detail to the situation, such as – one of the two people who have met is already in a real-life relationship, the romantic moment about the online meeting changes and a crucial question arises: Is online infidelity really cheating?
Many people see it as just harmless internet chatting. They think real emotions cannot appear by typing on a keypad. Many others, on the other hand, see it as an emotional affair. The internet lets people do and say what they want; it permits them to live out their fantasies. This kind of behavior can be devastating for relationships.
Cyber cheating is emotional cheating
Online infidelity is an emotional affair in which people develop real feelings for each other, and even a sexually intimate relationship without ever actually meeting. In fact, they may not ever see each other’s faces, or hear each other’s voices – no human contact whatsoever is involved – and they still develop certain feelings for each other, followed by high levels of intimacy.
As there is no real human contact, it might not seem like a real affair. But let’s not forget about the emotions. If you share romantic moments with someone who is not your partner, and you hide these moments from your actual partner, you feel guilty in front of them, while on the other hand you look forward to sharing those moments again with the third person – you are cheating, my friend.
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An online affair shares many elements of a real-life affair. The fact that you haven’t really physically touched the person you’ve been cheating with doesn’t mean your feelings haven’t been touched. Emotional cheating is just as devastating as physical cheating. It distracts you from your partner and it fills your partner with insecurity, it creates secrecy, lies and covering up, and this can potentially destroy the trust that holds your relationship together.
Even if your partner doesn’t discover the affair, the second one of the partners becomes unfaithful – a bond of trust gets broken. People who have online affairs tend to get angry at their real-life partners often, for no obvious reason, and often without meaning to.
Men and women seem to have different points of view on this matter. While most women consider online affairs to be just as bad as real cheating, most men disagree. They think no emotions can be developed online. Some even say they fake their emotions: “You aren’t actually smiling whenever you type a smiley face, are you?”
Cyber sex
Cybersex usually happens so quickly and easily, it’s easy for anyone to get carried away. It is very addictive, and it has a tendency to take over your thoughts and completely distract you from your real-life partner. You may stop feeling the need to have sex with them, and start to constantly yearn for cyber sex fun. Very often, cyber sex can become physical infidelity because the two people eventually feel the need to “do it” for real.
Even if your online affair never comes to life, its very existence can damage your relationship. Online infidelity, just like real life infidelity, is often a sign that there are problems in the relationship. If you’ve met your partner online, but he/she still continues to flirt with other people, you might need to have an open talk with them, because they obviously miss something on the emotional plan, and your relationship needs some serious revisions.
