by Heatherlinn Lemmer Meadows

Created on: April 18, 2009   Last Updated: April 19, 2009

Absolutely not. I do not participate in online dating sites. It literally makes my skin crawl and induces nausea in me. In my 10+ years of using the internet I have seen that a good portion of people online, unless communicating with those you know in their non-internet life as well, will be deceptive in some way. Sometimes, I very small ways, sometimes in huge ways. You can not evaluate the sincerity, and honesty of a person over the internet, There is no voice inflection, body language, or facial expression, and J smilies do not count.

Even with a web cams, which you can get a visual, but, all you have to do is make like an actor, and put in a Oscar worthy performance. I have seen people on sites who make multiple users and present themselves as completely different people, and get away with it. I have seen marriages ruined because it was "just on the internet" that they flirted, got sexual, or had some semblance of a relationship. Married people DO join singles sites and seek out from strangers things that they either do not have, or they just flat out want out of selfishness.

It's still cheating. Cheating is not just a penis and vagina thing. Most committed relationships are not exclusively about sex, they are emotional as well. Not to mention, predators use those sites to find victims with ease, not just adults looking to have sex with minors, it includes people who get off on hurting people emotionally, who use people for whatever selfish pursuit they choose, and yes there are pedophiles, rapists, killers, and abusers, Sites intended for meeting people, whether for friendship, relationship, or just hook ups, is like a all you can violate buffet that a predator has right there in the privacy of their home, with an almost unlimited supply of prey ripe for the picking.

Minors join those sites, lying about their age, people who are lonely and abused join them and get hurt emotionally/ The internet has taken away the humanity of the man/woman, or man/man or woman/woman dynamic. Its stolen the ability to bond and listen to your gut instinct to know if someone can be trusted. The internet is turning people into anti-social couch potatoes, trying to find anything to meet the needs we all have as human beings. We need each others as human beings to survive in a healthy manner. Its why we date, marry, and have friends. We need to feed out hearts, minds, and souls, not just our body, and the internet, including dating sites, are turning us into emotional and intellectual

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