Closing Argument: Internet’s Impact on Love and Sex

The internet has done more to tear apart courtship and intimacy and nothing to improve it. By their very nature, courtship and intimacy cannot be done over the internet.
As the internet celebrates its 40th birthday this year, it is a sad statement on what has happened to it that such a question as yours is being asked. The internet was created 40 years ago with much nobler purposes in mind–like educational uses, rather than being a cheap media for peddling sex and other uses by cheap charlatans.

I have to disagree strongly with the poster who said “The internet has done more to tear apart courtship and intimacy and nothing to improve it. By their very nature, courtship and intimacy cannot be done over the internet.”
I met my wife on the internet, over 10 years ago. We became friends and it progressed from there. I lived in Toronto, she lived near Philadelphia. Without the internet we would have never met. We did meet, and now we are coming upon our 11th anniversary of marriage. Only the weak and / or desperate would fall prey to home wreckers on the internet.

Facebook, Myspace an all the other sites that im not familiar with have done way more bad than good. People go seeking out ways to be unfaithful. Relationships these days are a big joke with all the surveys and facts saying that people wont last after they get married or how soon they will get divorced cmon already why get married. When people make the other sign a prenumpt! you know yourself its going to happen! Im only 23 years old and i know this.

I found my soulmate on an internet dating site and am totally in love. It is the way to go for many divorced middle-aged individuals who no longer want to go to bars to be ‘picked up’. It is a sign of our times! Courtship can definitely be done over the internet and moves forward from there. Happy to say I met the love of my life on the internet.

It has made all of the single’s lives mini “soundbites”, if they don’t see something exactly as they want it, on to the next profile. It has made people become “serial daters”. Makes for millions of lonely people

I agree with “a Canadian Guy Married in the US”. My husband and I met 6 years ago through an internet dating service and will be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary this October. I never would have met him if it wasn’t for the internet as he lived more than an hour north of me.
I think blaming the internet is just another convenient way for people NOT to take responsibilty for their actions. OH the big bad internet made it EASY for me to cheat. BOGUS!!!!!! If you really want to cheat, you’ll find a way with or without it. Come on people… Take some responsability for your actions.

How long are we going to continue to blame exogenous factors for our own dysfunction! The internet is NOT the problem! We CHOOSE to use the modalities available to us to pursue what we want; the internet simply makes it easier. The internet also makes it easier to find a bargain, to find a map to somewhere, to communicate in a healthy manner. I’m SO sick of hearing people blame everything but themselves for the ills of society! I met my spouse on the internet and we’ve been in a monogamous relationship for ten years…you get what you put into it. Had I wanted to cheat, I would have used the internet for that as well. We act as if these outside things have some power over us so we don’t have to be responsible for our actions…COME ON!! PLEASE do not foster this ridiculous attitude that we aren’t responsible for our behavior because some technology makes our already screwed up behavior more simple to pursue!

Women without God in there lives have created a chaotic, confused, and troublesome state in this world today.
Society changes when the home changes.
No morals in the home no morals in society. No peace in the home, no peace in society. No love in the home, no love in society. No respect in the home, no respect in society, No God in the home, no God in society.
…Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Matthew 7:13

I met a special match online for the first time last year.Howver the internet was a simple way of him getting sexual pictures from his exwife.He also refused to cancel or minimize the solicitations of friends on the same site we met..he kept solcitating half naked women on there..Being that I am beautiful and confident I know I will find a special someone but now opting not online..I don’t blame the internet for his actions..He definitely had a problem..Thank God its not mine anymore..

I joined e harmony in january of this year..One of my matches has become a very close and dear friend and now she has met a wonderful man as I have met a wonderful Lady. If one is honest and forthright about who they are and what type of relationship they want it is a great way to meet members of the opposite sex…We learn each other from the inside out…a far different approach from the “game” that goes on in clubs, etc.
As usual, only the “bad” sites make a program such as yours, however, i daresay look at the many happy people that some online services have created. you’ll find many more of those than the losers you portrayed.

There is way too many infidelities that goes on in the internet. I check my e-mail and there are girls just dancing around in bikini tops advertising for some site. It just takes 1 click and your watching and fantasising other people, I was truely shocked to find out about a site (there were actually dosens of them) about exposed pictures of ex-girlfriends and wifes that men sent to the site for exposure to feel some kind of payback or revenge. Literally, nude pics that the females sent to their lovers. There are so many sickening websites. Its just unbelievable. I wish there was laws for the internet and police monitering the websites. Todays world, its a million times harder to trust someone where theres so much sex exposed, children are hit with it and there needs to be more control.

Internet influence on sex and love is multi-dimensional.
FIRST: The user will make a choice between positive/negative use of it.
(Good versus evil)
SECOND:Internet pornography negative effect as a sex tool is; The more it is used by the user,the attraction for their spouse diminishes as the spouse
“Can not meet the expectations” of the Internet. (This may also lead to sexual aberration of the user), As their demands for sexual activity becomes unacceptable to their spouse.
Third:Love yourself first,or you will never experience love. The Internets impact on love is simple. Love fulfillment will either be remorsefully self-centered, or emotionally and mutually beneficial to both individuals.
A Creator who allows us free choice is a wonderful thing….for now?

Any tool can be used for good or ill, but that doesn’t mean that it’s totally neutral in terms of its effect, or that the good cancels out the bad. Technology in general has made porn more available and prostitution easier and more profitable– first it was phone sex services, then porn videos. And in both those cases, easy access and anonymizing the transaction DEFINITELY meant more porn users and heavier use by those users. People too lazy or too worried to go to a strip club or a theater that showed X films were perfectly comfortable buying videos.
Now you don’t even have to rouse yourself to order a video, just use the same computer you use at work, and access a world of totally interactive sexual opportunities! Without even leaving your desk.
The same is true of internet dating or hookups. Sure there are some great people out there, I met the love of my life on the internet– on craigslist of all places. But I also met married guys trawling for casual sex, often posing as looking for a long-term relationship. Sure, without the internet they might have hung out in bars and clubs and hit on people at work. But not nearly as much or as often, and they would have to actually go somewhere, and take some action to do so. But with the internet, they can do this virtually 24/7, while pretending to work either at the office or at home. And they can tell themselves that this is “normal” behavior, because just look at craigslist–everyone is doing it, there are zillions of ads, every day.
One guy I met (he had posted for a LTR) started crying when he talked about his marriage and how he had ruined it (end of our conversation, didn’t even finish the coffee) BUT he was back posting again, multiple posts, that afternoon.
I love the internet– I love email, google searches, the availability of music and video, ebay and other shopping. I love the availability of info… I love the fact that I met my soulmate (who I never would have otherwise come in contact with) on the internet.
And I hate the internet, because that easy, anonymous access makes people who are lying, lazy, cheating scuzzbags even more so. Hey, the internet is like junk food and no-interest low-doc mortgages and easy credit: it’s like crack to those with no ethics and no self-discipline. And they can tell themselves that what they are doing is normal, and that if they eventually admit to a problem, it is always the fault of someone or something else.

As to the first story in last night’s show and whether it constitutes prostitution, that’s a tough one. At a minimum, the parties involved are “shallow” to say the least!! The particular men are mainly/only interested in the woman’s “attractiveness”, and she’s mainly/only interested in his wallet. And the woman who runs that website is really a sad person.
But as to prostitution, whether explicit or not, doesn’t EVERY relationship involve some sort of give and take…some bargaining? Isn’t everybody considering what they are getting out of the relationship vs. what they themselves contribute to the equation? Actually, I think outright prostitution (where both parties are completely honest about what is going on) is MUCH more noble than what was depicted last night…where the men act like they’re not be used, and the women act like they’re not using the men. Please.
As to the internet and its affect on romance and dating, I think overall it HAS done more harm than good. Sure, some people have met via the internet and gone on to marry. But I wonder what percentage of internet meetings resulted in actual relationships? I agree with others that for far too many people, many internet dating sites are more like “catalogs”, where you can browse and see what you like, and if that one doesn’t work, then you can click on the next hot profile you see, and IM them!
Also, with the advent of internet dating, many people have never learned, or else forgot, how to COMMUNICATE in the real world. They’ve hidden behind their computers, afraid to speak to members of the opposite sex…to try and talk someone up in a bar or at a museum, etc. NOTHING can compare to first meeting someone in person and seeing if there is chemistry. The problem with internet dating is that 9 times out of 10 the chemistry doesn’t work. So then you go back to your apartment, fire up the computer, and try again, browsing for other “hot” guys/women. There’s something very sad, unnatural and alienating about the whole process.
For those who say that, if it werent’ for the internet, they never would have met their current partner: you know what? If you hadn’t met them, you would have met someone else at some point! Do people seriously think there is only ONE person for them in the world?
As to the internet making cheating more common, if someone is going to cheat, they are going to cheat. A man or woman that has NO desire to cheat, is not going to suddenly change their thoughts about this, because of browsing on the internet. If someone cheats after meeting someone on the internet, then the desire/intention/lack of happiness in their current relationship HAD to have already been there to some degree.