Email, instant messaging, chat rooms and message boards - they're all out there awaiting the Web-savvy woman. And they are changing the way we interact. In fact, the advent of the Internet hasn't only created a massive shift in relationships, it's sped them up and intensified them beyond realistic proportions. But online love has a different profile to real-time love - and it can pose a totally different set of problems.

Online love is available
You can log on anytime and find someone to talk to. There are thousands of people online, and while you could never meet them all in real life, on the Web you can meet 30 different men in an average evening.

Online love is anonymous
Because Web contact is largely nameless, it feels very safe. You can be honest about what you're saying because you will probably never meet your correspondent. Or, you and others on the Web can be dishonest and spin a fantasy, conceal your worst side and elaborate only on your positive characteristics.

Online love is speedy
Online relationships can happen incredibly fast. You don't experience the negative body language or warning signals that may occur when you meet face to face. Whereas in a real-time hour you'd have one drink, in an online one you're swapping details of your sex lives.

Online love is seductive
If you're feeling vulnerable, you've got no one in your life or things aren't going well with your relationship, your online mate seems more appealing. He becomes a seductive fantasy - and that's where the problems begin.

You send him a picture and never hear from him again. Or, you meet only to discover that your online Adonis is a couch potato. He tells you he loves you - but you find out he's married. Or, you back off because you're married - and he throws a wobbly and starts harassing you.

And, worse case scenario, sometimes cyber romeos can be malicious and dangerous. Even though we're careful to meet in public places and notify other people where we are at all times, online relationships can go wrong through no fault of one's own.

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