Do you remember the Internet eight or nine years ago? You logged into AOL and after 40 seconds to 10 minutes of the horrible dial-up noise you were free to chat…simply chat. There was a set profile where you could fill in general information about yourself, and the only portion that allowed any creativity was the “quote” line. And of course your actual screen name.

It wasn’t long before the Internet evolved and people could be on-line in a matter of seconds. Not only that, Internet communication grew and grew and grew.

Now there are continuous warnings about online sexual predators and face-to-face meetings that turn deadly. But what shocks me the most are not necessarily Internet dating sites, but the huge number of people openly soliciting sex on the Internet. 

A recent New York Times article reported that a man solicited sex on Craig’s List’s “Casual Encounters” section and thought he was going to be killed when he arrived at a small, dark apartment. After standing around terrified for a few minutes he found that the women he went to meet was actually just obese and didn’t want him to see her while they were having sex. 

He said he was relieved considering just moments before he thought he was going to be murdered. Users of “Casual Encounters” make up 2 percent of the Craig’s List population. No matter what your preference, there’s someone for you on there openly soliciting sex. Users are allowed to include pictures of everything they “have to offer.” The site says it does not allow pornographic pictures but it’s not monitored closely. 

When will Internet hook ups go too far? People didn’t stop after a young girl killed herself after being broken up with by her “Internet boyfriend” who actually ended up being her classmates mother. And people still aren’t more cautious after the recent  murders of Julissa Brisman and George Weber. 

I think that Internet dating can be really positive, but it’s gone too far. There are too many occasions where things go wrong. Sure, the man who came to find an overweight woman was not a dangerous situations; however, his immediate thought when he arrived at the apartment was, “I’m going to die here” and it was just a risk he was willing to take.

Tragedies that come out of Internet relationships are far too common. I don’t know that there is anything that can be done because there are simply too many sites to monitor everything thoroughly. It just amazes me that so many people in our sexually-driven society are willing to put themselves in serious danger just for a one-night stand.

I do see the good side of Internet dating. I have a friend who met someone on match.com 3 years ago and they are very happily married. And I haven’t heard anything about the couple that never met but had an ordained minister create an avatar on Second Life so their avatars could get married, so I assume they’re doing well.

My point is, just because Internet hook-ups and Internet dating is common, doesn’t mean it’s by any means safe. People need to be careful.