Lara Kretler’s blog

Mack Collier had a great post this week about using social media to form online connections you can then take offline and cement into real friendships. I’m a huge proponent of this, but the birth of my niece on 10/24 has me thinking about the opposite - how to use technology and social media to enhance and deepen relationships I have with family far away.

When I was a kid, my parents and brother and I lived on Long Island but the rest of our family was in England. We saw our grandparents and distant cousins once or twice each year, but it wasn’t enough to build and keep up super close relationships. We only talked to them on the phone occasionally, and never for long because it was pretty expensive. There was no email or Internet yet, so we were limited to writing letters and cards which seemed to take weeks to get there. I often think about how different it is now - we have so many more ways to keep in touch with people far away, to connect in real time and share photos, videos and more.

The birth of my niece Madison has inspired me to find new ways to connect with family and feel close to them. I have bonded with my husband’s nieces and nephews over Webkinz World and I look forward to introducing Maddie to that as well. But there’s so much more! I already share tons of photos online with my family, but Maddie’s arrival has inspired me to take more videos too. Madison is growing up in LA so I’ll want to share our seasons and especially our winters with her.

Instead of boring phone calls, we can do free live videoconferencing through ooVoo, plus the usual webcam chat capabilities through most instant messaging services. Maddie’s folks and I already text each other and send pics to each other’s phones. And although I do most of my scrapbooking the traditional, old fashioned paper-and-scissors way, I can also make and share beautiful digital scrapbooks with Maddie online via ScrapBlog or Creative Memories Storybooks.

Then there are all the social networks and other online resources dedicated to families. I am especially excited about SavvyAuntie, a community for cool “PANKs” (professional aunt, no kids). Babies are new territory for me, but fortunately there are tons of blogs and family-focused sites I can explore to get ideas, share stories and learn more. There are even oodles of dad blogs, including Chris Brogan’s new Dad-o-matic, which I can send to my brother for ideas and inspiration (I still can’t believe he’s a dad!).

Speaking of social networks, how cool would it be to start a new Ning community just for Maddie and our family as a way to keep in touch, share photos and videos and stories, and even chat live. Imagine if Maddie could log onto her own social network every day after school to see which aunt, uncle or grandparent was there posting info for her or waiting for her to join them in the chat room. The possibilities are practically endless. I want Madison to feel that her family is close to her always, no matter how far apart we may live.

Social media makes it so much easier to reach out and touch someone. Are you using social media to stay connected with family or friends far away? Got any other ideas to share?