The internet and internet dating are wonderful inventions that the majority of us would find hard to do without. If we really wanted, we could live our entire lives at home, never once venturing out past our comfortable threshold. Work online, order food online, communicate online, date online – the list is almost endless. It is an interesting point that a liberating technology such as the internet can serve to cage us physically.

But in the case of internet dating, surely the whole point of the exercise is to eventually meet somebody physically for a physical relationship? Well apparently not for some who are content to use internet dating sites to conduct relationships where they never intend to meet up for real. This may seem a little odd to some but for those people who live a large part of their lives at home and online it can be their preferred way of achieving a level of intimacy with another person beyond that of a normal friendship but without any actual physical contact.

In some ways internet dating is like having a pen pal. I remember having pen pals from France as an adolescent child and I would always imagine what they looked like, if they were handsome and if they would find me attractive. All the things you tend to do when meeting somebody online. This relationship is in itself exciting and stimulating and can be very rewarding. I can only guess that for some this satisfies their desire for companionship or perhaps gives them a level of control in satisfying this desire – a sort of companionship on your terms.

Of course, there are a few potential drawbacks to sticking entirely to the internet for dating and not taking the next step. Internet dating by its very nature, tends to present the dater with a multiple choice of potential partners. If you have found your ideal internet date and now want to pursue a closer relationship, albeit only online, how can you ensure that your date will feel the same way. The simple answer is that you can’t and your special person may well be enjoying cyber relationships with many others, perhaps even meeting some of them for real. Of course this may not bother you and that is fine but I know a lot of people who have been disappointed when someone they have been dating online suddenly disappears from the scene because they have met someone else.

That is the real problem. There comes a time when you have to put your fears and your desire for control to one side and take the plunge. So my advice to you is have a great time with internet dating, enjoy all the things that it has to offer, but when it is time to meet for real just go for it – taking the usual precautions of course.

So, is a cyber relationship better than a real one? I don’t think so but you must decide for yourself.