by Cherie Camins

Created on: March 05, 2009

The Internet is a vast network that allows people all over the world to connect with one another, among numerous other applications in both one's personal and business lives. It can be a good thing. Yet, besides the obvious dangers, there is one more that you may not have thought about. What is that? It is that the Internet makes cheating easier.

Actually, the Internet is two hazards in one for a relationship. The first hazard is that the Internet provides a large base of people that your significant other can become close to. It is not just the dating sites like Match.com or Eharmony.com that you need to worry about him visiting. Even something as innocent looking as MMOs (massively multiplayer online) or otherwise known as online games like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars can be dangerous to your relationship.

Especially with a game like World of Warcraft, there are numerous stories of real life relationships breaking up because their significant other 'met' and fell in love with someone else online. Just because your significant other is playing a game does not mean he is not cheating by way of typing messages like "I want to [censor] you so badly" to a girl or chatting dirty talk with her on a software called Ventrilo or TeamSpeak while you are out of the room.

Just the simple fact that your significant other can and is interacting with a lot of people of the opposite sex is daunting. They will be making friends and 'hanging out' with them, all in the comfort of their home. There is no telling how far the communication will go if it starts online because even phones can go on the Internet, not to mention there is the simple act of texting via phones or calling when they want to talk.

Being online and interacting with others makes cheating easy, both in finding someone to cheat with and in hiding the act of cheating. With the World of Warcraft example above, if you do not play the game (or even if you did!), if you are not watching your significant other's monitor (which you probably are not), they can be cheating on you right in front of you. The private messaging system between two players is called 'whispers' and there is no log like there is with emails saved of those conversations to look back on. No one else but those two players can read what is being written.

I, or really anyone else, cannot say how or if your significant other will cheat on you. Just because they are on the Internet a lot does not mean anything. However, you cannot forget the danger that the Internet can pose to you if you allow yourself to grow lax in your relationship that your significant other will find what he or she needs elsewhere.

Be aware if they try to hide from you, such as closing windows whenever you get close to their computer monitors or if they talk about someone of the opposite sex frequently, whether about them or to them. Something may be up. Even asking flat out if they are growing feelings for that person may not have them telling the truth, or that their feelings have not grown to that stage just yet. Either way, the hurt from the cheating is still just as painful as other ways of cheating your significant other may do to you. Just because it started online does not make it any better.

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