The Perils of Internet Relationships.

I had a personal experience with an Internet (cyberspace) relationship last year, which went very wrong.
I have put up an (anonymous) website, detailing what happened. After travelling halfway round the world to meet my internet 'girlfriend', I expected the relationship would improve. Instead, things got bad. The end result was, after blocking contact with that person, I required months of real-life counseling.

This is a darker side of Internet relationships, and the psychology of it can get very ugly.
As a student of Computer Science who has taken several subsidiary courses in psychology at my university, and done a short presentation there about the psychology of cyberspace this year, having a particular interest in this area, I feel I may have something to contribute to this field.
My personal website is at the following address:

http://www.geocities.com/nosdosnaaruba/

Though this is very personal, I was wondering if any cyberpsychologists would be interested in my personal experience, as a kind of psychological case study.

It illustrates some hidden dangers of this kind of relationship, which are exaggerated in the absense of face-to-face contact, and could serve as a warning to some.

On a personal note, I have been suffering a lot from this relationship, and hope at least some good could come out of it in the end, which is why I am posting this here, in the hope that it may contribute to the understanding of this kind of psychology.

"J"

Replies:

Re:The Perils of Internet Relationships., by John, 09/28/02

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