Finding Love Online

In our current technological culture we use cyber connections to create all of our relationships.  We use the internet to manage our social lives, meet new people, and develop both emotional and sexual partnerships.  We use hand held devices to connect via texting, IM’ing and email as easily accessible ways to find dating partners and make new business connections.  Not only do we meet new friends and possible partners, but we use the internet to talk to new partners, and to sometimes find old partners from the past.

This may keep us feeling connected to our history in a positive and exciting way.  Finding our high school sweetheart or an old boyfriend can trigger a heart throbbing memory and make us feel young and alive again.   But, if you’re already married, it can also lead to problematic behaviors like cheating and affairs.   Facebook, a popular social networking site, is listed by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) as to blame for one in five divorces in the US today (AAML, Feb 2010, www.aaml.org)   Also, 81% of the country’s top divorce attorneys say there has been a clear rise over the past five years of couples who use social network contacts as evidence in their divorce proceedings.  Facebook is used in 66% of court cases as a primary reason for divorce evidence.  (AAML, Feb 2010, www.aaml.org)