In all likelihood you are like me. Your family is spread far and wide. In today's modern world, job markets and with the help of modern transport and communications links families can find themselves spread all over the world. My own family for example has members in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, Scotland and England.



This geographical spread of families poses some interesting questions about what this says about our modern society. We have all read commentators bemoaning the demise of the family and the support structure that only a family can provide for its members both young and old. There are also some not so obvious issues that families face when they become fragmented in this way. You might live miles away from your grandchildren and never experience the joy of watching them grow up. Or like me you might live far away from brothers and their young families. This distance apart from the ones that you love can be hard and upsetting to reconcile. How do you bridge the gap of distance? There are only two possible ways them being expensive travel or expensive means of communication.

I wish to disregard the expensive travel option. I can't afford to travel from Scotland to Australia to see my brothers and their families every two to three months. I need to accept second best and use modern communications. These days the Internet has made it easier and cheaper for families to keep in touch with each other. Digital cameras and the Internet means that we can share photos on the same day that they where taken and distance becomes no barrier. Video can be shared as can information in any other format that you can think of over the Internet. And then there is VOIP (voice over internet protocol), with this technology there is no excuse for having to pay for an expensive telephone call made to family and friends again. This technology will allow you to make phone calls, videophone calls and use instant messaging. Please don't be confused by all the technical jargon, as the technology is very easy and simple to use. With videophone calls I can see and speak to my nieces and nephews and if I really must my brothers too!

As you can see the technology is there to help us communicate and share information (photos, video clips, files, calendar events and whatever else you can think of) with each other and better still it is very inexpensive to do. Teenagers have been doing this for a while on social networking sites such as myspace and bebo. Here teenagers and some people not so young meet and share information with friends. So what about families, is there anything out there on the Internet to help families communicate privately and keep in touch with each other? If so it needs to be private, safe and secure and very easy to use. Such a product does exist and it is called Community in a Box (http://www.myciab.com). With Community in a Box you can use VOIP, share photos, video and other file types, share a community calendar and a family address book. And that's not all - you can send messages just like email to each other. Best part of all it's completely free, safe and secure to use.

In the real world this is not my perfect option for keeping in touch with loved ones but as a second best it does allow me to keep in close contact with my family and friends. That's important to me, as I know it must also be to you.