The sweet smiles sent, late night instant messaging conversations about everything and nothing, ecards given on special occasions or on days when the only thing to say is hello or lengthy emails transmitted instantly across the wires that you shelter away in your saved items folder to pull out again at a latter date. These digital experiences are part of the modern day online romance. Many people around the globe are experiencing love in the same way with more amorous individuals joining each day. Yet despite the conveniences of carrying on an online romance, the drawbacks of translating real emotions through a digital medium are all too apparent. Below you’ll find a few simple ideas that might help you maintain that spark of interest that will keep your relationship moving until you can enjoy it, finally, in a more personal way.

Send a garden of roses: Insert the rose icon as many times as your instant messaging program will let you and send it. One or two is cute but a truckload says I love you!

Gone but not forgotten: If you’re going away, you can preset distribution of ecards from companies such as Hallmark to send on set days. Make sure they get one on each day that you’re away.

Picture yourself together: Your online instant messaging icon says a lot about who you are. Remind everyone of your romance with an icon of the two of you together.

Send a talking ecard: You can send ecards with a kick such as Sympatico Talking Cards. These can be a cute way of really saying the things you need to say even if you can’t be together.

Video & Voice: You still can’t beat sound and pictures when it comes to online romance. Video and voice setups are relatively cost effective so splurge to get the best cam and mic that will suit your needs.

Play a game together: There are many places where you can do things together online—even through instant messaging programs. Check your instant messaging software and see if there’s a fun way to kill some time with that special someone.

Okay, your turn! Have you thought of a great way to keep an online romance fresh and fun? If so, drop us a comment below!