Cyberspace Can Lead to True Love

Discovery ^ | March 20, 2002 | Reuters

[ValerieUSA]

Here are words of comfort for those who have spent more time than they should in online chat rooms — a British psychologist has found that courtships begun in cyberspace can very well lead to true love.
Many "virtual" relationships thrive once potential partners meet face-to-face because they already know each other so well through their online encounters, said Jeffrey Gavin, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Bath.
"Chat rooms don't lead to shallow and impersonal relationships," Gavin said in an interview on Friday. "They lead to really close relationships because people express themselves more freely and are more open and honest on the Internet."

Gavin carried out in-depth interviews with 42 regular chat room users aged 19 to 26 years. Of the volunteers he studied, 29 reported close friendships or romantic relationships with people they met online, with 21 progressing to face-to-face meetings. One couple became engaged to be married.
"What tends to happen is that, when they meet, it's a fairly smooth transition from online to offline because they know each other so well," said Gavin, who presented his findings to the annual conference of the British Psychological Society (BPS) in Blackpool on Friday. "Online, guys can be more emotionally honest and open, while women can be more overtly sexual."

His research also showed that most chat room users tell a few white lies about their height or the color of their hair. But in most cases they were minor misrepresentations rather than outright fabrication.
"They still seem to comply to the social norms around the body," said Gavin. "So the guys tend to make themselves sound blond and blue-eyed, while the women add a bit of blond to their hair or increase their bust size slightly. "It's true, twelve of them told outright lies but the rest just exaggerated slightly."

[Lazamataz]

Loooo-oovin' youuuuu, is eeeasy 'cause you're beauutiful..... doo 'n doo n' dee dooooo, (screeeeeeech)

[Lazamataz]

Goodbye my friend it's hard to die, When all the birds are singing in the sky...... We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun....

[Lazamataz]

Muskrat, muskrat candlelight, Doin' the town and doin' it right, In the evenin'...... It's pretty pleasin' .....And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed, singin' and jingin' the jango ......Floatin' like the heavens above...... It looks like muskrat loooooo...oooove......

[Lazamataz]

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting..... And it was so exciting..... But it was so very frightening..... But they had expert timing.......

[real saxophonist]

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia...

[Lazamataz]

Havin' my baby....What a lovely way of sayin' how much you love me.....Havin' my baby......What a lovely way of sayin' what you're thinkin' of me.....

[NeoCaveman]

Ah, ah, ah, ah, Stayin alive, stayin alive.....

[real saxophonist]

So where's my invite? She has me address.

[Lazamataz]

Oh my darlin....knock three times on the ceiling if you want me (tink tink tink).....twice on the pipe if the answer is no (bonk bonk).....

[real saxophonist]

Wow, I'm talkin' like you now...

[Lazamataz]

Delta Dawn, whats that flower you have on, could it be a faded rose from days gone by....

Okay, you win.

But I put up a good fight!

[real saxophonist]

Tragedy!

[Lazamataz]

So where's my invite? She has me address.

We'll send one!

[NeoCaveman]

A Damm Shame. I guess only the good die young.