Commuter Marriages

According to Forbes, 3.8 million Americans are in commuter marriages and the number is growing. Since 2000, 30% more Americans had long distance relationships where their work kept them apart for days at a time. Forbes says that technology has fueled the pattern:

But while innovations like e-mail, video chatting, instant messaging, Twitter and Second Life have increased the volume of Internet chatter, they haven’t necessarily made long-distance relationships any more successful, Guldner says. Communication’s quality, he says, has always meant more than its frequency.

“Information technology has definitely led people to believe that long-distance relationships will work more than in the past,” says Guldner. “Whether that’s true is the big question we’re dealing with right now.”

The article talks about some of the ideas that have been developed around the emerging trend: the Hug Shirt, the connected USB Flower Pot, the glowing cups and VIO – the virtual intimate object.