Virtual relationships In the modern world, where computer, innovative and information technologies are rapidly developing, for many of us the virtual world has replaced the real one. Internet fans do not have a clear age threshold; they can range from preschoolers playing “computer shooters” to older people. The Internet has become an indispensable assistant for us, attracting us with its accessibility, mobility and convenience. Despite all the advantages of the World Wide Web, many people find themselves in this very web when they plunge into virtual relationships, which are especially common among young people. Virtual relationships are the unreality of what is happening, our illusion, a dream that seems to us to be very close, behind the monitor screen. Virtual novels give a vivid feeling of novelty, drive, and romanticism. We all tend to embellish the image of our interlocutor, to endow him with qualities that he never possessed. In their virtual fantasies, everyone draws for themselves the desired image of a “prince on a white horse,” an elegant knight, a muscular macho, a chic blonde or a sultry brunette. The human imagination is capable of embellishing and conjecturing things that do not actually exist. Therefore, often the majority of visitors to dating sites subconsciously endow the interlocutor with qualities that he does not possess. After a certain period of virtual relationships, when meeting each other in real life, most experience disappointment. Is this really the dream of my midnight dreams? And it is possible that your virtual interlocutor did not deceive you about his appearance and interests. However, when meeting, a slender brunette turns out to be a skinny bespectacled man, an attractive blonde turns out to be a peri-haired young lady with no waist, and the ability to so sensually express one’s thoughts and desires in ICQ, chat or by e-mail, when meeting in a live conversation, is replaced by tongue-tiedness or silence. Plunging into a virtual romance, we imagine an ideal image of a partner, which, as a rule, does not coincide with his real image. In virtual relationships, people cannot recognize each other, no matter how long the communication is. It is important to remember that the monitor screen will not be able to convey everything that is so important in communication: emotionality, mood, facial expressions, gestures, feelings, smell, visual “eye to eye” effect. There is no substitute for real communication. Many people believe that virtual relationships are not treason; on the contrary, they add variety to family relationships. However, for example, in England and America, divorce proceedings have become popular, where one of the spouses accuses the other of computer infidelity and many people experiencing a virtual affair experience a feeling of guilt, as from real infidelity. The danger of virtual relationships is that by escaping reality into the virtual world, you jeopardize your real relationship with a person close to you, thereby exacerbating existing problems in the relationship. In 2008 psychologists from the American company Kelton Research conducted research that found that 65% of more than 1,000 adult Americans who took part in the study spend more time on the computer than with their spouses or partners. The computer-user relationship is becoming deeper, the researchers found, noting that, according to 84% of respondents, over the past three years we have become more dependent on our computers. Harmony is not always inherent in these relationships: 52% of PC users perceive computer failures as their own, and experience anger, sadness or mental depression if the computer does not respond to requests or performs poorly. Another 19% admitted that they had the urge to hit the computer. [The Washington Times, 2008, translated by InoPressa]. Disappointing conclusions, isn't it? There are no universal means of dating; perhaps, for some, virtual romances end in marriage, but as statistics show,.