There are several ways to send and receive video clips. If you are new to this, it might seem intimidating at first, but most of them are straightforward and simple. You just need to choose the option best for you and realize that they all have varying resolution and privacy settings.

Sending video by email is an easy, two-step process. Creating and attaching the file to an email. In most cases a simple webcam is all you need. The camera will typically plug into your computer using a USB or Firewire connection. Your computer will have a built-in microphone for an easy solution, but by purchasing an external microphone you'll usually find better audio results. You'll need software that enables you to record a video. The free, Windows Movie Maker is a video-making tool which comes with Microsoft Windows. It is a simple program, well-suited to tasks such as creating video to send with emails. When using a digital camcorder and downloading to your computer, use a smaller resolution than the full 640x480 or 720x480 your camera recorded. The maximum size you should use for sending a video through email is 320x240.

Email, although simple, can cause complications in both image quality and privacy. If sending via email is a matter of privacy, use a service like Eyejot, which lets you define who has access to your clips. You can create the video, use Eyejot to share the video and their service (they have both a free, limited service and a full service program with a yearly fee) will notify your friends and family by email when they have a new video to watch. You have complete control over who gets to watch your videos, there is no software to install and watching is as simple as a single click.

Most social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, allow video clips to be uploaded to member's profiles. In this way you can limit who sees the video, but you can also direct new friends to your profile to see the video clip. Follow the directions given for each site to ensure premium quality and privacy when using this option.
YouTube has become a worldwide sensation. You can watch anything from reruns of your favorite television series to unsigned singing talents and crazy home stunts. Although it's difficult to maintain privacy when posting video to YouTube, this is a familiar site to many people and an easily accessible way to send a link to friends and family YouTube is designed to make sharing your videos with friends and family as easy as possible. When uploading your video, they do require that you choose a descriptive category to tag the content of your video, making it easier for other YouTube visitors to find the videos.

In the world of technology we live in today, there is no reason to not stay in touch with friends and family that you can't see every day. Email, video and blogs provide tools to keep your long distance lives connected and up to date with just a few simple strokes of the keyboard.