Bolter & Grusin 212-271

I find it interesting that so many of you mentioned Skype in your responses to this weeks reading. I, too, thought of Skype as soon I closed my text. My boyfriend graduated from Clemson and moved to Virginia last year. He's 40 minutes from DC and needless to say, too far away for weekend roadtrips. It was really hard adjusting to the distance and the idea that the distance would remain an issue for a little over a year (I graduate on August 8th) proved almost too daunting of a task for us to take on. We tried aim, e-mail, and phone calls but the limited capabilities of these mediums individually proved inefficient for sustaining a healthy relationship. We were arguing a lot more than normal because a lot was being misconstrued via e-mail and instant messenger. It's amazing how much nonverbal communication influences our interpretation of messages. I had never heard of Skype but a colleague of my boyfriend recommended that we try it out (he too is in a long distance relationship). I can't begin to tell you how much I value what I once took for granted--seeing and hearing simultaneously while communicating. Now my boyfriend and I use Skype daily and while it's not the same as face-to-face conversations over white chocolate mochas at Starbucks, it's not the black and white text driven communication of aim either. On Skype I am able to communicate digitally with my boyfriend, interpret and over interpret (:-P) his tone of voice, and share links with him. It has allowed us to reconnect during a time where we're both experiencing a great deal of changes in our lives.