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 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 one on one 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 Kodak 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. 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!