(ARA) - Today we have more ways to communicate than ever before. From texting, e-mail, instant messaging and video calling to Facebook, Twitter and the constantly accessible smart phone; there are a million ways to communicate with loved ones.

While "sexting" scandals seem to be the topic on every gossip columnist's mind these days, the old-fashioned love letter is still a popular way to show you really care about someone. A recent study by Hotmail shows that 69 percent of American adults admitted to sharing romantic words and photos via e-mail. Further, 60 percent of women and 46 percent of men said they save the romantic e-mails they receive from their partner. According to nationally recognized etiquette consultant Mindy Lockard, "E-mail can be a memorable way to say, 'I love you' if you do it right. The love letter is still a treasured keepsake even in the modern age."

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, here are some quick tips to the modern day love letter:

Where you share
It's one thing to broadcast what you're eating for breakfast via social media; it's another thing to share words of love that are only meant for one person. Impersonal public announcements in 140 characters can easily be missed in the overload of a daily news feed. If you are going to use technology, consider a modern day love letter in the form of e-mail. E-mail is private, can include photos and videos of special memories and can be printed, kept and treasured. With the prevalence of e-mail on smart phones, your love letter can be re-read anywhere and anytime your sweetheart wants to think of you.

Be romantic and personal
A love letter is an expression of deep emotion, so be thoughtful and sincere - try to avoid too much humor or racy language. Before you write, pause, collect your thoughts, and make a list of the things you love about the other person. Think about their unique qualities and characteristics and why you fell in love. Including photos and special memories will only benefit how your words are read - not just today but for years to come. Hotmail, for example, offers many simple, free ways to add a little color to your words and personalize your message with graphics, backgrounds and even a customized photo album layout for groups of photos. Don't be afraid to be creative and personal.

Use your words: You don't have to be Shakespeare but you also shouldn't rely on emoticons to do your talking. Don't use texting shortcuts for words ("u" instead of "you") and before you hit send, double check your letter and make sure your intended message is clear. Use an endearing greeting and their first name such as, "To my dearest …" and sign off with an expression of love such as "All my love."

Do you remember life before Facebook or Twitter or your Blackberry? In the past few years, we have moved beyond chat rooms and community forums to life-casting platforms that can be updated via your mobile phone. You can upload your son's 1st soccer goal on YouTube, before the game is over.

As we move forward, technology has accelerated the pace of our lives, enabled us to connect to the web with a pocket-sized device and opened our lifestyle to the world in ways that were not possible only a few short years ago. We will explore mobile technology's influence in a network society by exploring smart phones, apps, privacy and Gen Y:

The Rapid Growth of Smart Phones:
Mobile technology is advancing our ability to connect and share information in ways that were not possible even a couple of years ago. Consider the rapid rise of smart phones. Your iPhones, BlackBerrys, Droids are becoming staples in the mobile market. RIM is the US leader in smart phone devices, with 42% of the market in Feb 2010. The creatives answer to the smart phone (Apple's iPhone 3GS), took second place with 25% market share and the largest growth comes from Google, with a jump from 4% in Nov 2009 to 9% in Feb 2010. With smart phone technology spreading to "the next billion" in China and India, it's not hard to imagine the technology to be a staple of the global cell phone market in the not-too-distant future.

Via AdMob
Connecting on a Deeper Level:
Smart phones enable users to engage in profound ways, using different platforms and offering a seemingly endless stream of apps. Some of the top iPhone apps are centered around connectivity and life-casting. For instance, Facebook enjoyed leadership status App Store for weeks after its release. The social network app ranks #4 in the most downloaded iPhone app with 26% penetration of installs, according to comScore. Facebook is followed closely by MySpace Mobile at #7 with 23% penetration of installs.

Next Big Growth:
The next generation (Gen Y) of mobile users are not just connected, but hyper-connected — particularly through texting. The average American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Nielsen Company — more than doubled the average a year earlier.
Michael Hausauer, a psychotherapist in Oakland, Calif., said to the New York Times, teenagers had a "terrific interest in knowing what's going on in the lives of their peers, coupled with a terrific anxiety about being out of the loop." For that reason, he said, the rapid rise in texting has is a double-edged sword: ‘Texting can be an enormous tool," he said. "It offers companionship and the promise of connectedness. At the same time, texting can make a youngster feel frightened and overly exposed."

What's next?
Our desire to connect on a deeper level is measured by our views on privacy. Gen Y has radically different views on privacy than Gen X or Boomers. Gen Y typically has a loose definition of privacy — enabling technology to penetrate deeper in their daily lives. Could the next level of engagement be GPS-related?
Google Latitude and iPhone apps such as Loopt and FourSquare enable users to track where they've been while keeping updated on their contact's locations. For instance, if you're going to the cafe down the street, you might want to stop into the local boutique to help your friend pick out a lamp shade for her apartment.
As technology advances, it is accelerating our ability to connect through mobile devices and peeling back a layer of privacy with each evolution. While the emerging generation might be quick to adapt

To read more about mobile tech's influence on society, go to Sparxoo, a digital marketing, branding and business development blog.



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