TASK 1.3 (ASSIGNMENT 1)

How far would a partner/spouse have to go online before it is considered cheating? Up to what point is flirting online acceptable? How ‘real’ is cybersex? Your initial writing for this topic should not be above 500 words, although it is fine for notes and extracts from the discussion, and further reflection, to take you over this limit.
Online relationship lines are murky. Most of the time you lack the emotions that are being expressed on screen.
Firstly I’d like to point everyone’s attention to an episode of Modern Family, Truth Be Told.

“Phil has 447 Facebook friends, with one of them being his old girlfriend, Denise (guest star Judy Greer). Claire is suspicious because the recently-divorced Denise wants to meet Phil at an intimate French restaurant. To dispel any thoughts that his ex has an agenda, Phil invites Denise over to the house to meet Claire and the kids… Claire admits that she was way off base regarding Denise. Or was she? While Claire is in another room, Denise slips Phil her hotel room key. She chases him around the house, thinking that he’s been flirting with her for a year online. This has Phil wondering just how many more of his 447 Facebook friends he’s unwittingly led on.” (“”Truth Be Told” Episode Recap Pg. 1 – Modern Family – ABC.com.” ABC.com – Official Site of the ABC Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://abc.go.com/shows/modern-family/episode-guide/truth-be-told/394450>.)

Watch full episode here http://www.wisevid.com/play?v=3A_f8bx5fx5b

How many people do you think have been in this exact situation? Some people just add friends to their Facebook friends without thinking that the person on the other end may be seeing the “add” to your portfolio of friends as an invitation to start “something”. This is also evident in CL Pascoe case study with teenagers. “…the plethora of publicly accessible information on a given individual provides a fresh way to “research” or get to know those on whom they have a crush.” (Pascoe, C.J. . “Final Report: Intimacy | DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH.” DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH | Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/book-intimacy>.). Teenagers would use social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace and become “friends” of a person they would have a crush on and then start casual flirting online. This is much less daunting than face to face interaction and lets the teenager build up the courage and knowledge base of the person they have a crush on. Though this can be classed as “stalking” and like in the Modern Family episode, it isn’t always reciprocated and can get people in all sorts of trouble.

But how far is too far? I spose it is in the eye of the beholder. Even in the ‘real world’ people in the community have different definitions of the term cheating. It’s up to each and every ones personal beliefs on how far is too far…
REFERENCES
“”Truth Be Told” Episode Recap Pg. 1 – Modern Family – ABC.com.” ABC.com – Official Site of the ABC Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://abc.go.com/shows/modern-family/episode-guide/truth-be-told/394450>.
Pascoe, C.J. . “Final Report: Intimacy | DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH.” DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH | Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/book-intimacy>.