by Michael Viola

Created on: January 20, 2011   Last Updated: January 21, 2011

Marshall McLuhan spent his life preaching that the medium is the message.  McLuhan argued that the sheer existence of the light-bulb "allowed people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. The light bulb," he continued, "created an environment by its sheer presence."  You could argue that McLuhan’s theory, though ahead of its time, is a perfect representation of the role the Internet plays on our current lives.  Never before have we been so connected with not only information but with each other.  People who were once simple acquaintances are now Facebook friends whose lives play out on our computer screens daily.  In a short period of time, the Internet, with its availability literally at our fingertips, has become a forceful medium that has, as McLuhan alluded too, “created an environment by it sheer presence.”

So, then, how does the Internet encourage cheating?

Think back to the 50’s and 60’s.  Now, if we’re to learn anything from Mad Men it’s that cheating was just as prevalent then as it is now.  If anything, the show and a simple understanding of history proves to us that cheating has always existed and unfortunately always will; that said, has the onslaught of the Internet made it easier to stray? Has it indeed encouraged young, seemingly happy couples to cheat on their significant others? 

Well, let us agree on at least one point, happy couples don’t tend to stray.  It’s not to say that they don’t, but for the most part those who stray are often unhappy with some aspect of their relationship no matter how big or small the issue may seem.  That point is one often made by Noel Biderman, founder and C.E.O. of Ashley Madison, an online dating website specifically advertised towards people in a committed relationship.  Though his site Ashley Madison was and has been widely criticized since its launch in 2001, Biderman believes that people who cheat on their spouses are going to cheating regardless of whether or not Ashley Madison exist.  And according to Biderman, people who cheat “…do it in a destructive way…there’s all sorts of outlets for people to do it.  The bottom line is that 70% of men in particular are straying. And isn’t it better that they are joining a community where like minded adults exist and everybody knows what they’re getting into. That’s

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>