| When I started using the Internet, it was primarily to communicate
with my boyfriend after I went away to college. Emails were simple text
messages and connection speeds were 14K. Twelve years later, that
boyfriend is my husband and email is colorful, elaborate, and
instantaneous. Friends and families who once used to keep in touch
infrequently with high long-distance rates and slow postal mail are now
getting net savvy and using new modes of communication to stay closer
than ever. Here are 7 ways to use the Internet to connect with friends
and family.
1. Email. It is almost a no-brainer, but it needs listed
because many people do not use it to its potential. If you only have
email access at work and do not want to use your work account for
personal email (a good idea!), try a web-based service like Yahoo and
Hotmail. Create address books to send messages to numerous people
at one time. Make sure that you understand netiquette (etiquette
on the Internet) such as not typing in all capital letters (it is
SCREAMING) and be careful not to forward along spam. Check out any
possible hoaxes at www.snopes.com.
2. Build a family homepage. Use it to post family events and
information such as new baby announcements, directions to the wedding,
and vacation pictures. You can get a free homepage through some Internet
providers like AOL. Other companies will host your page for free if they
can advertise with banners on your page. Our first page was a simple
page using Microsoft FrontPage that gave information about our wedding.
Our next was a baby announcement with pictures within hours of our first
daughter being born. If you don't want to create the page yourself, use
a quick and easy template like those at Babies Online .
3. Start a message list. Allow friends and family to choose
whether they want to stay connected by email or web by creating a
distribution list such as a Yahoo Group where members need a password to
join. You can keep the list small by including only immediate family or
make it large by including your entire high school graduating class.
4. Instant messaging. Instead of phone calls, talk
instantaneously online with a messenger service like Windows Messenger
or AOL Instant Messenger. You can see when your friends or family are
online and correspond with them by text. This is usually 1:1 interaction
unless you join a chat room with multiple people. Newer features
in the messaging programs including web cams and file sharing.
5. Digital pictures. Did you know that you can upload your
digital pictures online and share your album for free? Find a good
digital printing company such as Shutterfly and you will likely be able to
email a link with pictures to friends and family for their own viewing.
Depending upon the service, they may even be able to order their own
prints. This saves you from having to figure out how to resize the
picture or attach huge files to your emails.
6. Message Boards. Often called by different names such as
bulletin boards or chat boards, message boards allow you to post
messages by topic and allow others to respond. These can be public or
private. You can host your own if you have a website, join another
website as free members, or pay for a private board hosted by someone
else. Depending upon the host, you will have different functions such as
the ability to add pictures, receive emails when people respond to your
posts, or control membership.
7. Start a blog. Short for "web log," this is basically an
online diary. Friends and family members can keep up with what you are
doing on a daily basis. It is not as interactive as the other
communication methods above, but it has its benefits. Specific uses for
this might be a pregnant mom, a new mom, or someone with health
problems. Free blog services are everywhere these days. In some
services, these can also be called "journals."
In the 21st Century, communication with family members is becoming
increasingly faster and cheaper. The only question remaining is whether
that is a good or a bad thing!
Tricia Meyer
Helping Moms Connect
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