People don’t need to be in close physical contact to feel “connected” emotionally. Over the years, various means of communication have been used to enable human beings to keep in contact with one another. Letters, telegrams, and telephones have allowed individuals located in different places to share news and to interact with family, friends, and business relationships. In today’s world, with more and more people on the move, long-distance communication has become even more important. At the same time, changes in technology, particularly the introduction of computers and the increasing use of electronic mail, have made it easier than ever to stay in contact. There are two main reasons why e-mail has become so widespread: time and money. Although mail service and telephones can be found almost everywhere, a letter can take a long time to arrive and phone calls are often quite expensive. E-mail seems to be replacing other forms of communication for many purposes. As the use of computers has spread, many people use e-mail rather than regular mail to send personal messages. Because it has become so easy to send pictures and information via the Internet, it has also become commonplace to use e-mail in business. E-mail has even given rise to a new type of communication, the “chat room,” where groups of people who do not know each other personally can talk about topics of mutual int