"Hi!" the instant message box says in bright blue text. "Who are you?" the woman types in response and hits the send button. "My name is Mark. What's your name?" the box replies in bright blue text. "Sabrina, age 37 How old are you?" she responds. "39-Are you single?" the box asks. "Yes, are you?" she types, again hitting the send button.

It’s a beginning. These two strangers begin a text conversation and become friends almost immediately. She shares that she is a single mom and discovers that he is a single dad but only has his children ages 7 and 12, every other weekend. He asks why she’s divorced and she answers honestly, sharing details that are private and intimate. These two have known each other for less than ten minutes and are sharing personal intimate details of their lives.

Debbie, a divorced 42-year-old single mom moved here from Las Vegas about six months ago. She discovered the friendliness of the Internet at a friends house. It became an immediate addiction. Debbie would spend hours on the computer. First the chat rooms. People from all over the world popping in and out of this little piece of space designated for social interaction.

The saloon, a favorite of Debbie's allows a female to walk in unescorted without judgment being passed. You want a party atmosphere, you simply double click on Saloon 1 and introduce yourself to everyone at the bar. Don’t worry if Saloon 1 is full the computer will ask you if you would like to go to Saloon 2 or 3 or 4 etc. Upon your arrival to this cyber pickup joint the entire saloon will greet you by name with great enthusiasm. Someone will offer you a cyber cocktail, which of course you will accept. You can even put a quarter in the juke box, dance or accept an invitation to belly up to the bar.

When you enter the saloon you bring with you your personal profile, (the information you provide about yourself for others on the Internet to read). While you are socializing members of the opposite sex will double click on your screen name (a name you choose to use while traveling through cyber space) to find out more about you. If someone finds your profile or conversation interesting they will focus on getting to know you. Invitations to private chat rooms and instant message boxes will consume your computer screen.

It's fascinating and safe from your home. But what about those who take the next step? Those who exchange pictures with each other and like what they see? Those who chance meeting in person?

Debbie had been frequenting the chat rooms less than a month when she discovered Love@AOL. A place where one can put their picture and personal information for the whole world to see. If you like what you see and read about a person you simply send them an e-mail letter with your picture attached. If that person finds your letter and picture attractive, you just might have an Internet connection.

Debbie found such a connection. Debbie herself had put her own photo, a glamour shot and personal profile on line in hopes of meeting Mr. Right. Frank, who just happened to live within five miles of Debbie, found Debbie's ad in the personalize and sent an e-mail response. Debbie, thinking he was someone else who had responded to her ad and sent a picture of himself, agreed to meet Frank for coffee at Starbuck’s Coffee House.

Neither of them looked like their pictures when they met. Debbie, because hers was a glamour shot and we all know that we don’t look like those pictures in everyday life. Frank didn’t look like his picture because he had never sent one.

It can be difficult to keep track of who is who on line. Especially when you have an ad that receives hundreds of responses. Nonetheless, Debbie and Frank hit it off and moved in together less than two weeks after their first meeting. The relationship lasted about three months before they split up. Not a move I would personally make but hey, to each his or hers own.

Les lives in the Midwest. Having suffered through a traumatic divorce after 24-years of marriage he discovered the Internet. Diane, a registered nurse in Canada and mother of 14-year-old daughter met Les on line and they dated (on line) several months before Diane made a trip to Indiana where Les lived.

Months after Diane's first visit to Les in Indiana, the two caught a flight to Las Vegas and spent several days getting to know each other better. After more than a year of long distance dating Diane left Canada and moved in with Les. They are now married and living happily ever after.

Steve has had more than forty Internet dates. (Which by the way is more dates than I've had in four years of being single.) Honesty is the biggest problem that Steve has encountered. Women have sent their picture to him in response to his Love@AOL ad. Steve meets them for a date only to find out that they may have looked like the picture they sent at one time, but not now.

How does one deal with that? Steve, a perfect gentleman, follows through on the date and even addresses the issue of their not being honest. Of course he doesn't follow up on a second date with someone who has mislead him. However, Steve has still has a good attitude about Internet dating. Although he hasn't made that special connection yet, (he’s not giving up on Internet dating), he hopes to meet Ms. Right one of these days.

It’s the way of the 90’s but is dating off the Internet safe? There are a lot of fruitloops in this world. Are they all in cyber space? Of course not! Just practice a few of the following rules if you decide to try cyber dating.

1. Don’t share your entire life story right off the bat.
2. Never give your address to someone on line. There’s a possibility that if you give your phone number out your address may be accessible by that information, so keep that in mind when someone asks for your telephone number.
3. If you make the decision to meet someone off line, meet them in a very public place and don’t limit this rule to the first time you meet them.
4. Even if they seem nice and you decide you would like to get to know them better, keep the meetings public until you are totally comfortable with the situation.

If you have questions, need a shoulder to cry on or want to share a good day, M.O.M.S. is here for you. Remember ... 

Together We Can & Will Make A Difference