Now, I haven't been around on the internet as long as you have, MJG (I hope you don't mind me shortening your name.) but I have had some good relationships online and I have had some bad ones; mostly bad I am sorry to say.

I think the reason that I turned to the internet was so that I could escape from the person everyone thought I was to the person I really wanted to be and this was even before I learned about BDSM. It started near the end of an extremely abusive relationship in which I was trapped and the internet was the only place I felt "safe". No one could hit me there and if I got into "trouble" I could just click the X and run away. Also, I had people making advances on me - as much as was possible in a chatroom. I knew that it was only because that I was some faceles woman with whom these people could fantisize was someone else, someone they always wanted to be with but would never happen, but in some small way it made me feel good.

The internet is a good place to find yourself if you are honest. You don't really have to worry about what other people think about you becuase you can just turn the computer off and walk away. You can be yourself. Unfortunately, it works both ways. It is also a good way for people to be someone they aren't and I think that is where a lot of people get themselves into trouble. They build themselevs up in each others heads as being the person of each other's dreams and when they meet, they fall short of the mark, the fantasy is broken; the bubble burst. You weren't the knight in shining armor she thought you were or the supermodel you thought she was.

Now, I have had a couple of online relationships, both with dominants, and one of the two worked out for me and that was with TG. The other, however, was completely different. He was a nightmare waiting to happen. I got lucky though, it didn't take me long. I found TG after only being online for about 3 months and we talked for another six before we met face to face. But we were upfront and honest about who and what we were from the beginning and I think that is a big part of it.

All that I can say, is that I am for internet relationships if they are open and honest; that the people involved don't try to be someone they are not. But then again, this is true in any relationship, on or offline. I am thankful for internet relationships because, if there weren't any, I probably would have been alone for a very long time and I wouldn't have TG and our beautiful daughter, both whom I love very much.

Anyway, that is my opinion of internet relationships. I don't know if that was the kind of feedback that you were looking for and I could have gone on for pages and pages but I thought I would cut it short.