With the help of smartphones and computers, long-distance communication has become effortless.

According to St. Thomas communication and journalism professor Carol Bruess, who has studied families and couples in the digital age, the use of technology has made it easier for individuals to make long-distance relationships work.

“Over the last couple decades, no question, more of us are able to maintain and even create relationships – new relationships – with individuals who live far distances,” Bruess said.

Sophomore Rachael Mysnyk is one of those individuals, as she is currently making a long-distance relationship work with her boyfriend, junior Jon Page, who is studying abroad in London this semester.

“It’s hard because you lose the aspect of doing life with them,” Mysnyk said. “We can talk about our days and things like that, but it’s just really different when you actually get to be there.”

That’s why Mysnyk has been relying on her iPhone to keep in contact with Page while he’s away.

“We use Viber the most. So it’s just an app where you can free call and text,” Mysnyk said. “Sometimes we FaceTime too, but usually I’m, like, walking to and from places and he’s walking from things, so we just like to talk on the phone easier.”

Not only has technology helped long-distance couples better maintain contact, but according to Bruess, it brings them closer together, as well.

“Overall, couples have reported much greater satisfaction with being able to have conversations that are really close in many ways to the kinds of conversations that they would have if they were sitting in their living room together,” Bruess said.

For Mysnyk, technology has been crucial to making her relationship work.

“I can’t imagine it without it. I’ve written him a letter so far, but that’s just – it’s so slow. It takes like a two-week process to write it, to send it, to get to him, to hear back,” Mysnyk said. “That’s just really not ideal.”

Theresa Bourke can be reached at bour5445@stthomas.edu.