Staying in touch with loved ones can be quite a chore if you rely mostly on phone calls and snail mail. If rising postage and long-distance costs are keeping you from connecting with family and friends, consider one of the many options available through the magic of digital communication. The only hard part of communicating digitally is deciding which connection best fits your circumstance. Check out these online options to meet your needs and use some or all of them for optimal communication.

* Skype: Video chat is becoming one of the most popular and exciting methods for staying in touch, whether you’re down the street or abroad on vacation. Install free software on an Internet and webcam-enabled computer, cell phone or TV to connect. Enjoy video chats and conferences for free or pay a small fee to do extra things like making and receiving calls to landlines and cell phones. No matter the features you use, make sure you have a fast mobile broadband Internet connection to avoid any visual or audio lag time.

* Twitter: Share the minutiae of your day in 140 characters or less. Tell your husband what’s for dinner, send a friend a link to an article, or even tweet about the great deal you just scored. Stay involved by following and tweeting with other users, posting photos and making your tweets search friendly with hashtags. Navigating your live Twitter feed is simple and can be organized into contact lists like “college friends” and “celebrities.”

* WordPress: Blog about an extended trip, a recent move or a new interest and share a multitude of details without repeating yourself. This user-friendly platform tracks stats, offers interesting interactive widgets and hosts big-name blogs like CNN’s Political Ticker and People Magazine’s Style Watch. Create a private blog that only approved members can read if you’re hesitant to broadcast your life to the entire Internet. This is a great option for those trying to keep up with and share major life changes, like having a baby or planning a wedding.

* Foursquare: Gather a group of friends at the last minute by tracking their locations. “Check in” to your location and broadcast it to others. Earn and collect badges for visiting a new location or checking into the same location several times within a time period. Access Foursquare by downloading a smart phone application (available for limited systems), visiting the website from your smart phone or sending a text message to the service’s SMS code of 50500 from a regular cell phone. This tech-savvy site is rumored to be the next big wave in social networking.

* Gmail: Communicate with one or a select few through this widely-used outlet. Google’s free e-mail service makes communication easier with a sharable reader service, calendar and documents. Verify that you have a secure wimax 4g Internet connection before sending important and private information, and never open a suspicious e-mail from someone you don’t know.

Whether you live in different cities or different countries, keeping up with friends and family has never been easier. The digital age has brought with it a multitude of solutions for your communications needs, so spend some time deciding which ones work for you. Sharing information through the use of technology is not only fast, but fun.