Cyber-Dating Addictions

While reading a story earlier about a girl who had become addicted to Cyber-Dating, I reflected back on a close friend of mine who had become consumed by the world of online dating to the point it became unhealthy.

Several years ago, I introduced a close friend to the world of online dating.  I had felt sorry for the girl more than anything because she’d never had a relationship that amounted to much of anything – more because of her own low self esteem than anything.

I thought that perhaps if I introduced her to a world where she could meet men who were interested in similar things as she was and where she could be open about her “personal flaws” that resulted in her low self image, perhaps she could meet someone who might see those same “flaws” as perfection.

It wasn’t long before I realized I had created a monster.  My friend would stay up chatting till the wee hours of the morning.  She began calling in sick to work because she’d be overly tired from having stayed up too late.  I also realized that rather than admit who she genuinely was and post a recent photo, she became consumed with the ability to create the profile of the person she would be, if she could.  Fake photo and all.

This fake profile resulted in a year long online romance that would grow into a deep friendship, but one that could never endure the transformation from pretend to reality.  She’d set herself up for devastation and disappointment.  She’d built the entire friendship on a lie.

I realized that if my dear friend was capable of creating such an impression, I wondered how many other people were able to create such a mountain of justifiable lies.

Have you ever lied on an online profile?  If so, what about and why?

When a person lies on their profile do you begrudge them or do you realize they are making an attempt to be someone they aren’t and forgive them?

I’m sure the deceptions are widespread, given the ease with which a person could embellish and enhance, even if the world is only cyber-space.