STORIES
Infidelity of all kinds affect people every day. People of all ages are at risk of being cheated on whether it be a physical or emotional betrayal. When it comes to internet infidelity there are certain factors that could increase cheating. Psychologists call them the “three A’s” of the internet: Acceptability, Ambiguity, and Accommodation. I asked 76 participants between the ages of 18-21 if they have or known anyone who has been affected by Internet infidelity or infidelty of any kind and here are the results.
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Hal's Story
Age: 31
Age: 22
Julie's Story
Age: 19
Courtney's Story
"I had just graduated law school. I worked my way through college by enrolling in boot camp and I've always been a hard worker. I needed someone in my life who could be my partner and help me do certain tasks while I went to work to provide for her, When I got married I thought I had found exactly what I needed and I loved her with all my heart, Things were great for the first 4 years until I found some questioning texts on her phone. When I confronted her she admitted to 'flirting' with this guy but nothing else. We decided to work on our relationship and I forgave her, It lasted for another 2 years before she started getting questionable texts again. When I asked her to unlock her phone for me, she would not. After hours of yelling she finally opened her phone along with a huge can of worms. She had texts, Facebook messages, likes, phone calls, etc. to many different guys. She claimed that she needs male attention in her life and has a problem. We tried to work on it, but we couldn't save our marriage. If the internet didn't exist I would still be married and she wouldn't have a "problem"."
"I was the bad guy. We were only dating for a year and a half before I started to get bored, Our relationship wasn't like it was before. We used to go on romantic getaways and would hang out everyday with so much to talk about and then it changed. We both were in high school and had just got our first jobs. I only worked a couple of times a week, but he worked nonstop. Whenever we had the chance to hang out it wasn't the same. I would see all of my friend's couple pictures on Instagram or snapchat and became jealous. It wasn't that my boyfriend didn't love me or try to give me attention, I just wasn't accepting his affection because I was curious as to who else was out there. I would snapchat old guy friends or 'like' other guys pictures and even flirted with some guys via text. My boyfriend and I ended up breaking up soon after he found out and looking back on it 4 years later, I still regret not loving him unconditionally and letting the temptation of online cheating get to me."
"College was a huge change for me. I grew up in a small town and never had a serious boyfriend in high school. When I got to college there were so many new people to meet. I joined a sorority and gained a lot of new girl friends, but I still wanted love in my life. I was introduced to a guy at a tailgate and we hit it off. We sent texts everyday and hung out a lot. I gave everything I had to him and after 3 months I thought I might have been falling for him. Until one day when my sorority sister matched with him on Tinder. She swiped right to see if he was actively still using it and he was. He messaged her asking to hang out and she told me right away. When I confronted him I found out that he had been messaging and meeting up with girls the entire time we were together. He built up my self confidence and then crushed it. This was a year ago and it still hurts to hear his name."
Have you or anyone you know been impacted by infidelity that was made possible by the use of technology? (Secret messages on Facebook, Likes on Instagram, secret tinder usage, secret snaps, etc.)
Internet infidelity along with infidelity of any kind has clearly affected more people than one may think. The people affected feel the hurt and regret and sometimes feel it will never go away. These are three real stories of people in my life who have been affected by infidelity.
Yes, Impacted by Internet Infidelity
No, Not impacted by Infidelity
Impacted by Infidelity of a different kind
71%
6.5%
22%