Dr. Laura,

Like so many other things, advances in technology both help and harm our relationship. So often my wife and I comment we are grateful we did not have to deal with texting, facebook updates, and twitter feeds when we were dating. My wife claims I would not have married her if all of her awkward past was so accessible to me when we were dating, I beg to differ.

Modern technology helps our relationships with friends, allowing us to keep up with people we would otherwise lose track of, and even reconnect with people. Conversely, all that time spent keeping track of others can be harmful to a relationship when it takes time away from actually being together. It is disheartening to come home from work when dinner has not been started and my wife is browsing Facebook or Pinterest.

Important family and friendship relationships are not rooted in emails or Facebook, they come from spending time together in some form. Technology relationships are for distant cousins and "pie crust" friends to quote Mary Poppins "Easily made, easily broken."

Thank you for all your great insights,

Michael