Not Your Momma’s Relationship
My husband and I are both creative writers and both write a combination of poetry and novels. (I lean towards novels and he leans towards poetry.) We both joined an online forum for creative writing and noticed each other but didn’t talk much.
One night, we were both online and knew someone else from the site who introduced us to each other (via instant messenger). I guess you could say it was love at first chat session because we talked one way or another for almost every day for a year after we met.
I kept the relationship rather quiet because I didn’t have a supportive family when it came to internet relationships. My parents didn’t (and probably still don’t) know how to turn on a computer, much less use the internet. Because of that, they bought into every internet horror story they ever heard on the news despite the fact I a.) wasn’t twelve years old and b.) wasn’t meeting random people from MySpace in bars.
Eventually my brother calmed her down and explained to her that the internet was how a lot of people met and, taking the right precautions, it could be perfectly safe. And he’s right. More and more people are meeting online and starting relationships from there.
So I thought I would put up a poll (because I love polls even more than lists) to find out what the readers here have done and feel when it comes to online relationships. Feel free to add on your story and/or thoughts in the comments section!
PS. Tomorrow is Reader Appreciation Day! Be sure to stop by again and see what you have to do to get your chance to win not one, but TWO awesome prizes!
April 16th, 2008 at 10:07 am
The stigma of online relationships is a hard thing to leave behind. I’ve been in a couple, and while I wasn’t ashamed of them and they seemed perfectly normal to me, I still hesitated to mention the nature of the relationship to anyone else for fear of the automatic derogatory response. That, and years of conditioning by a mother who reacts much as yours did and thinks everyone on the internet is a creepy pervert (I guess that includes me, too). Popular perception is shifting in a more positive direction, but it’s still a rather tricky line to walk.
April 16th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I’m sorry your mother is like mine in that way. It’s hard dealing with all of the troubles of a long distance/online relationship without having to deal with the negative pressures of those around us.
I also feel that it’s shifting into being a more positive thing, but I can’t help but wonder how long it will take before online dating will no longer be ‘tricky’.