Is Internet Cheating Really Cheating?

Linda had just gotten engaged to be married in a little over a 6 months from now by a man she felt was the ideal man named Ben. She was sitting at her fianc�'s computer �accumulating addresses to send out wedding invitations to. Linda opened an e-mail that instantly made her wonder if everything was a big mistake.

"Nancy, I really loved those pictures you sent me last night. That certainly gives me something to think about when I drift off to sleep tonight. Please send more. I'll give you a call on my way home from work this evening"

Completely distraught and shocked Linda made him one of the biggest mistakes many people make when suspicious of infidelity. Linda called Ben at work and confronted him over the phone. There are a variety of reasons why this is a mistake mainly because first by doing it over the phone she couldn't see Ben's body language which has everything to do with detecting deception and lies and secondly by making Ben aware of her strong suspicions she will just teach Ben to be more cautious in the future.

Anyway when Ben came home that night as you might imagine Linda and Ben had a long drawn out fight about the whole issue. Ben did admit to meeting the other girl, Nancy, in a chat room several weeks before and he swore up and down the only contact he has had with her was through the chat room and recently on the cell phone.

Do you consider this cheating? Technically this certainly is not cheating. Not only have Ben and Nancy never had sex they have never even met in person. The danger here is not what is but what could be. Up until the morning when Linda saw the e-mail Ben had sent Nancy Ben had been getting away with it. �What would stop him from taking it to the next level? If Linda had never seen an e-mail what would've ended up becoming of Ben and Nancy?

With the presence of the Internet today as a means of meeting members of the opposite sex I guess the definition of infidelity and cheating needs to be modified to: Infidelity: the act of engaging in communications of any sort with the intent of expressing or acting out romantic desires thoughts or feelings.