Alisja’s Story – When Alisja was in college, she majored in computers. Over the years, she mastered computer technology. She knew how to build top-notch Myspace pages, Facebook, and Twitter designs for her friends. She was always a little shy about connecting with men on the Internet. She had had enough of men lying to her in person. She didn’t want to add the computer as another device of rejection. She had several friends who found fine looking men over the Internet, so she figured why not?

It was a late Friday night and she was home alone, again. There was nothing going on at the church for singles. “There never is anyway,” she thought. She watched several old movies and laughed her way through reruns of Martin for at least 3 hours. She decided to try something new since she was bored out of her mind. She opened an account on Black Planet. Through her research, she found it was one of the best sites for meeting men. She also decided to start a page on “blackpeoplemeet.com”. The men were not too bad looking. Then she ran across “Faithmate.com" .She saw a lot of men outside her race on this site  if she wanted to swirl it a little. It was not long before she got a message on her AOL account. The beautiful sound of a strong computerized male voice was heaven to her ears.

”You’ve got mail!” She loved hearing it. It made her feel like she was not in the house alone on Friday night. She even decided to take a quick shower and put on her best PJs to start the night reading email from potential lovers and maybe even a husband in the making. Alisja went back to her Black Planet account and began searching through the pages.

Some of the men were really hard on the eyes. One guy took a picture with his pit bull, his gun, his truck, and no shirt. Another guy had a picture of him posing with his girlfriend’s head photo cut half way through the picture. She saw a few men who claimed to be preachers but they had no shirts on in their photos. They had enough Crisco and Shea butter greased down their chests to fry a 2 piece with fries.

She was offended but fascinated at the same time. A few men sent her winks. Some of the older men who were deacons left really old school raunchy notes and comments. She could smell the Ben-gay through the screen. There were a few women who sent her winks and kisses. She did not swing that way. One woman she recognized from the women’s prayer breakfast from last Saturday morning. She knew something was wrong with her when she met her because she was dressed in a blue dress and Timberlands. “How’s that working for ya?” Alisja thought.

Finally she got a decent email from a brother nearby. He was tall, sexy, and a Christian. He looked like a businessman and had a bright smile. Alisja only liked dating tall men. She was 5’ 11” and liked her men about 6’ 3” or taller. He was about that height she liked. She was interested. He said he wanted to talk. She gave him her number. They talked all night long. His smooth silky voice made her tighten up her robe. He made her laugh. She had not had a man make her laugh in a long time.

They planned on meeting next weekend. She was excited. She told a few of her girlfriends about him. They went and checked his page to make sure he was a real person. He checked out. They found his profile on “blackpeoplemeet.com” and “soul mate.com”. He was consistent with his profiles. She talked to him every day that week. They texted all day long. He texted her cute messages. He sent her pictures of ducks and birds with scriptures.

He sent her scriptures every morning in an email. She sent him words of encouragement and pictures of butterflies and dogs. They were connecting. It was perfect. Throughout the week, she still got new emails from other men. She felt wanted and loved again. She needed a boost to her ego as a woman to feel needed and valued. This online dating thing was working.

It was Friday night.