On the one hand, most married people who do the extracurricular cybersex thing say it isn't cheating, but on the other hand it might be the biggest trigger of relationship breakdowns, says a University of Florida researcher who examined the trend.
"The Internet will soon become the most common form of infidelity, if it isn't already," said researcher Beatriz Mileham to BBC News. "Never before has the dating world been so handy for married men and women looking for a fling."
Mileham's survey confined to married men and women using chat rooms aimed explicitly at married people. She determined 86 percent of those she studied and questioned, men and women alike, said cybersex wasn't cheating, even though their partners mostly felt betrayed by even virtual, as opposed to actual physical adultery.
"With cyber sex, there is no longer any need for secret trips to obscure motels," Mileham told the BBC. "An online liaison may even take place in the same room with one's spouse."
Mileham's study also found about a third of those she examined going on to meet their cybersex partner in person, with all but two having real-world affairs, with one man having an estimated 13 such affairs, the BBC added.
