NurseWeek: Sex and the net: two sides of a story (part I of a two-part series)

Sex and the 'Net: two sides of a story
Part I of a two-part series

Editor's note: To ensure privacy, some individuals' last names have been omitted.
By Tim Bergling
Health24News
October 11, 2000


	You've read the article. Now tell us what you think. Read Part II of the series Related sites Center for Online and Internet Addiction Journal of the American Medical Association

"The first time I logged on, I had a guy in my apartment in less than an hour," recalls John, a 35-year autoworker in Dallas. "A friend of mine told me how easy it was, so I gave it a shot. He was right."

These are times when one can have sex delivered to the door faster than a pizza, and stories like John's sometimes send shivers up the spines of public health officials. On any given day, at any given hour, there are thousands of people logged on to the Internet with a single goal in mind: finding a sex partner. But some folks are getting a lot more than they bargained for.

In July, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published results of a study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Denver Public Health Department. Researchers surveyed 856 people who had sought HIV tests; they found that 10 percent had "hooked up" with someone they had met online. Of that number, nearly 40 percent had met four or more people, and researchers discovered that people who were having sex with their Internet contacts were only using condoms about half of the time.

Many of the respondents were heterosexual men and women, but the majority of those surveyed were gay men like John. "I spend an inordinate amount of time online, and for me, at least, it's pretty easy for chatting to turn into something more," he said.

John says he practices safe sex, but knows full well that many of his contacts do not. "Some guys have asked me to do some fairly wild stuff without even asking me my HIV status," he said. The CDC/Denver study is once again ratcheting up concern that the brave new world offered by the Internet is fraught with risks and risky behavior.

But at the same time health professionals refuse to be goaded into indicting the Internet at large; no one disputes the incalculable value of cyber culture when it comes to offering lonely souls a chance to connect.

"The Internet allows people to conveniently meet others from the comfort of their homes, bringing them together for friendship and more intimate relations," said Kimberly Young, executive director of the Center for Online Addiction, and author of the book "Caught in the Net." Those contacts can greatly reduce the emotional or actual distance some feel from the rest of the world. "Many live in rural areas without access to groups or establishments to help them meet others," she said, noting the Internet's value to young gay men, many of them struggling with feelings they find confusing. "The Internet serves a useful purpose in helping them reach out beyond their community."

Drew Pinsky–"Dr. Drew" of the nationally syndicated Loveline radio show, and its counterpart televised on MTV–applauds the existence of an online community that gives young people, straight or gay, somewhere to go and someone to talk to. "Just being able to reach out and hear stories and connect with people who have been through this experience can be extremely powerful and important," he said. "The anonymity and the intimacy of the environment provide an opportunity for support and connection that I actually believe is primarily healthy."

"I was at a point in my life where I didn't see any way out but to try and kill myself," said Keith, a 20-year-old aspiring model in New Jersey, and that's sadly not an unusual feeling; experts say young gays and lesbians are at least twice as likely to attempt suicide as their heterosexual counterparts. "I was thinking no one would love me if I ever told them I was gay. I talked to guys online who helped me realize who I am, and helped me like myself more. If it wasn't for the Internet I probably wouldn't be here today."

Certainly the saga of sex and the 'Net is a complicated tale, and it encompasses everyone from Keith above to John from Dallas at the start of this story, from those who use the Internet to reach out and touch someone, to those who pretty much touch anyone who comes down the pike.

In Part II of this series, we'll explore how to tell when 'Net behavior is crossing the line from healthy to harmful.

Read Part II of the series