A relationship on the Internet can happen very easily. Some people think that as long as I have had no sexual contact with a person, I am still being faithful to my partner. Yet this simply is not the case. As a therapist, I work with many couples where infidelity takes place and yet there was no sexual contact. It does not take a physical act to betray your relationship with your partner.
Infidelity is primarily a matter of the heart, and secondarily an issue of behavior.
It is the heart that wonders first, generally, long before any specific betrayal of behavior can be pinpointed. When I work with a couple where there has been sexual unfaithfulness, the toughest issue for the faithful partner is not whether there partner can change their behavior, but how can I know where there heart is. How can I know that they are committed to me with their heart and not just their words. Well, there are as many answers to that question as there are people who find themselves involved in such a relationship. But, I think that there are three aspects of an Internet relationship that make it unique.