While I certainly believe all these features make it easier, I would have to say, if it's in one's mind to do so, they will no matter what. These abilities just push people a little quicker into the market then say the old fashioned way. What is the question by the way? lol I think "trust" or the lack of it is the biggest problem. The irony that we have so much available to us for purposes of communication make it so that the two who should be "communicating" aren't. Hek

What people are going to do, they are going to do.

I hope this will expose those who are not committed in their relationships sooner rather than later, so there are fewer "victims" of expectation for long-term relationships - like marriage - who get surprised by an unfaithful partner.

At the point where your "other" activities are getting in the way of, or taking the place of, time with your signficant other, and a tell-tale sign is that it's being hidden from that significant other, your relationship is in danger.

With its quick hits of newness and novelty, the Internet enables us to easily tune out and turn off to our partners when we should be making an effort to tune in and turn on.

Amusing.... You know, most of the time being the eternal exception to the rule makes life much more difficult, but then there are things like this that just leave me giggling at the insanity of it all.

:)

In the end technology will be our undoing.

I would think that an exclusively on-line affair, where the partners never meet, would feel an awful lot like a game of Evony or Dungeons and Dragons after a while. Relationships don't just take place between minds. There's chemistry, daily interactions, working together though shared problems, a bunch of stuff.

I 100% disagree with this article. I'm not into some "elationship" (a stupid word that somone hopes will catch on), but I don't think its cheating if no physical intimacy is going on. Thats a load of crap and a complete cop out. Just because you have a PhD behind your name don't make you right. Meeting up, kissing, having sex, basically to get physical THATS the cheating part. Too many time we are allowing people to define and TELL us what cheating is. Most of that online crap is all fantasy and the desire for someone to understand you.

Do I think people need to unplugg more often?? Absolutely. Do I think people take online relationship seriously? Unfortunately yeah. It's because the world is filled with "lonely hearts" even when you are married or seriously involved with someone else. In the end, I don't think it's wrong for people to go on the internet and bare their souls. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than having a shrink. But people just have to understand what it really is... electronic signals and nothing more.

My ex-husband left me for someone he met while on-line gaming. I did not let myself go, I'm not a control freak or witch or whatever. He was addicted to on-line gaming and was a lump who did nothing around the house and did not participate in our family life at all. I wanted and needed a grown-up partner who would step up and be married, not a gamer boy in a man's body who was twice the age of most gamers, but he wanted to do stupid things and I was supposed to like it and never say anything about it.

Would he have been addicted to something else if on-line gaming did not exist? Who knows? Who knows if technology caused it? He pretty much made everyone who knew us think what the hell did he do, he must have taken leave of his senses etc. The new wife can have the ex, and they can game til their hearts' content . Now I think who cares anyhow? All I know is he did me a big fat favor. Now I'm seeing someone who actually desires me, with whom I can actually talk, and he has not one iota of interest in on-line gaming! I met him the old-school way, in person, and we had mutual friends, common interests etc.

A friend of mine said she knows of 3 couples who have split up due to one partner finding an old flame on Facebook and leaving. Maybe technology makes it easier, but that could happen at a high-school reunion.

Maybe marriage is the leading cause of divorce!

no offense, but i wouldn't want to be with someone who spent 12 hours a day staring at a computer screen.

even though shared interests do contribute to healthier relationships, it's ok for one or both partners to have a separate hobby that they can share with friends or keep to themselves (gaming is one example). but spending too much time on a separate interest can put a strain on a relationship even when both partners are faithful.

my ex began an emotional affair with a woman he met at work, which later became physical. i knew something was happening, not only because he became distant and less interested in having sex with me (we still slept in the same bed), but because i had seen the emails and texts exchanged. i confronted him and he swore he would break it off with her because i meant so much to him (what a crock of s***). but he continued to see the slut behind my back, even while we were in couples counseling. after a few months, he left me for that whore. as he was moving out, i slapped him clear across the face. the malicious deadbeat deserved it. i never tried to control him and i never let myself go. he did it because he was a piece of s*** who felt we weren't sexually compatible and wanted someone who would get wasted with him every weekend (i rarely drink). he's now rotting away in Ohio, living with his parents and collecting unemployment at 35. i've gone on to better things (and people).