A reflection on how cyber relationships affect us in the context of the Internet.
Distance relationships are an increasingly frequent phenomenon in an interconnected and globalized world. The massification of the use of the Internet multiplies the opportunities to meet someone residing in a distant country, and as always, love does not understand geographical areas.
And it is that maintaining relationships at a distance is a psychological challenge that not everyone knows how to manage. In this sense, there are currently new studies that indicate that a distance relationship can be much more successful than a conventional one. What is the reason for this?
The keys to distance relationships over the internet
Interestingly, it has been shown that the degree of communicative intimacy is seen much more often in distant couples than in those in the same place. However, distance relationships can also be very painful because they expose people to uncertainty, jealousy, lack of commitment, lack of physical contact, misunderstandings in communication, monotony and ignorance of the social circle of the other person. In a sense, these problems also occur in a relationship in which both people are in the same place. Could it be that distance relationships are not really as far-fetched as they sounded before?
The problem that existed before was the lack of communication channels between two people far from each other; those that existed were not effective. But now all that has been remedied. In the same way, the ueos communication channels such as the recently announced Metaverse offer us hundreds of possibilities to continue in communication despite the distance, and establish in this context and in a healthy way a relationship, either friendship or love.
We have seen over time some success stories of affective or loving relationships initiated on the Internet; Stories that end in weddings or lifelong friendships. That is why I think it is important not to negatively prejudge these new ways of establishing relationships.
The psyche of people is an extremely important element when entering into a relationship of any kind. And in this case, in the context of interactions on the Internet, rules should be upheld to keep you safe from threats, deception, and emotional charade. Especially if you want to carry out the relationship at the level of knowing each other deeply.
The resolution of relationships
Once we have decided to venture into a situation in which there is a face-to-face relationship after meeting on the Internet, it is important to take precautions, such as being accompanied (although it is known that a date is two, you can ask someone you trust to look at them until the feeling of security appears), or meet in public places. Or, if the other person changes places with respect to the previously agreed location, move away immediately.
We must review basic user information, which is not a very recent profile, which has real photos, make video calls on different channels to make it more difficult to modify the video, etc.
Making friends online
Speaking of cyber friendships, this can also be somewhat complicated to manage. Especially for children and adolescents, who tend to objectify the participants of online video games.
A child can be playing with another in the online mode and suddenly disconnect and see messages like: “see you later, I’m leaving”, “goodbye”, “we keep in touch”. This can cause two reactions:
- The person is objectified and you play as if nothing matters too much; Interaction becomes informal when encountering participants.
- Children may feel totally rejected, sad, and frustrated at being objectified.
What to do in the case of minors?
It is important to be aware of children to see if they manifest behavioral alterations linked to their routine of entertaining themselves on the Internet.
Another very important point is the supervision of the conversations they have with strangers, and if possible to be aware while they play.
If anything the isolation of the pandemic did was exacerbate the need for contact, even assuming that some online interactions are “fictitious” relationships. I believe that the use of the Internet is a two-sided coin; but having a mature and healthy psyche we can enjoy and avoid going to the “dark” side.
