Contributing Writer

Could this be love at first
byte?

During the past several years
the computer has a become an
increasingly popular way to meet
people, and more often computer
users are getting involved in
romantic relationships with oth-
ers on the Internet.

Meeting people on the Net is
easy to do at the University
because students have Web
access through the campus com-
puter labs.

"When I’m bored, it’s
something to do," said
Kelly Reynolds,
a junior from
Watkinsville. "I
enjoy getting to
know other
people in
Georgia."

Reynolds has met five people
face-to-face after communicating
with them on the Net, but said
only two of these meetings went
well.

"You build up this fantasy
when talking to them," she said.

"You’re thinking that this could
be your soul mate, and it can be
very different when actually
meeting them."

But Jason Jones, a junior from
Augusta, has been using the
Internet for three years and has
a different story.

After getting to know a
woman through the computer for
four months, he finally met her
and discovered she was just like
the person he’d met online. The
two became good friends.

However, there is also poten-
tial dangers when using the
Internet.

"It’s possible for people to get
information about you," said
Summer Smith, a junior from
Watkinsville. "It’s real easy.
People can do searches on you,
find out where you live and what
your phone number is."

She said she a knew a girl
whose computer friend found out
her dorm number and her
father’s phone number as well.

"It’s kind of creepy when you
hear about stuff like that," she
said.

Jones said he
sometimes worries
about the
p o t e n t i a l
danger of
talking to
p e o p l e
online, but
h e
tries
n o t
t o
think
about it much.

"Life in general is full of
risks," he said. "So it’s no big
deal, really."

But beware – some people
find the Internet addictive.

Jones said he used to talk to
people about 10 hours a week.

Smith said she finds herself chat-
ting through her computer for
about an hour each day. Reynolds
spends an average of two hours a
night on the Net.

"Sometimes I talk for five or
six hours," Reynolds said. "It’s
addictive. I’ve never been worried
at all about being in danger, but I
get weird people asking me to
have cyber sex a lot. I’m sick of
seeing ‘Want to Cyber?’ on my
screen."