In a world where children wish they were grownups and adults dream of being younger, the great escape into the world of online social networking has given everyone the opportunity to fulfil some of those age-defying fantasies. Adults spend hours in childlike bliss as they play games that create worlds of fantasy farms, villages, battlefields and casinos, while children act older and want to socialise and have long conversations with cyber-friends beyond playing the same games their guardians play. The crossover into each other’s worlds is fun, filled with excitement and the obvious escape into the space they wish they could be. But where are children escaping to?

On Saturday morning a man who I met on a dating site greeted me and we eventually befriended each other in a more socially networked environment. The environment is irrelevant to the relationship, which is based on the communication of flirting and seduction. It took me a moment to realise that there was something unusual about the conversation I was having with this man and when it turned to talking about “My dad was born in …” I realised something was amiss: I was chatting to his 10 year old daughter.