The Internet has transformed our society in many ways over the past 20 years. Daily, it is used to communicate nearly simultaneously with people all over the globe. Millions of dollars of transactions are made, goods and services bought and sold, changing the way we buy things.

In our industry, it has changed the way that information is disseminated. Our society, moving at an ever increasing pace, wants information nearly simultaneously. The Internet is the way to get information out quickly, and from numerous sources.

Since our society has moved in this direction, some of our communication skills have changed as well. Instead of speaking face-to-face with someone, or even using the telephone, we can simply type an email and send it. While text messaging has changed the language somewhat, good grammar and spelling will, I hope, always be expected and appreciated.

I recently came across a news article about a new use for email. According to WebMD, inSPOT.org, has reached a milestone. In four years, the website, which allows people with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) a way to notify their partners via email, has reached the 50,000 mark for messages sent.

The site sends an e-card, an electronic greeting card, to the partners of those that are infected.

Yes, we can now notify sexual partners anonymously that they need to get tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea and even HIV. The site even allows you to include resources where your partner can get tested.

So, it becomes vitally important to check what you may think is spam -- electronic junk mail -- to see if it is legitimate. The e-card started out as a very good idea, but quickly became a trojan horse to deliver viruses to computers. Filtering software often identifies e-cards as spam or quarantines them, so I wonder why the e-card format was selected. Let alone the whole infect your computer history of the format.

Don't get me wrong, STDs are a vital health concern. The article reported that in the United States there are 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases diagnosed each year, including 900,000 cases of chlamydia, 330,000 cases of gonorrhea, and 55,400 HIV infections.

19 million cases. That is an epidemic.

Not surprisingly, this entire project began at the epicenter of the "free love" movement, San Francisco.

In 2004, the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the Internet Sexuality Information Services conducted research on gay men and men who have sex with men. Researchers concluded that while men are likely to tell their primary partners about diagnoses, they are not as likely to inform casual partners.

The study showed that men overwhelmingly said they would inform casual partners if there were a convenient and anonymous way to do so. The San Francisco Department of Public Health and the Internet Sexuality Information Services then partnered to launch inSPOT. It has since been expanded to other parts of the country and now targets heterosexuals as well.

In 2006 and 2007, e-cards were sent because of these STDs: 15.4% of e-cards were sent for gonorrhea; 14.9% for syphilis; 11.6% for chlamydia; 9.3% for HIV; 48.8% for other STDs (such as trichomoniasis, viral hepatitis, pubic lice or "crabs," and others)

The dissemination of information is vital to prevention. The most effective tool is prevention. Prevention includes being responsible, and informing your partner(s) about your health.

But, I think, the entire culture of anonymity and lack of consequences and personal responsibility for our actions has, pardon the phrase, bred and fed this entire problem.

It's much easier to tell someone in an email that you have given them an STD. It's quite another thing to do the right thing and tell them to their face and deal with the consequences and emotions.

As a society, I believe we have removed or deadened these emotions and reduced the beautiful act to the point where we share information by e-card.

That's just wrong.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.