Do you use form letters to communicate with family and friends. Have you thought about how nice it would be for your students to get information from you if they are absent (or just need the information again) ? Do you want to reach students that don't participate in class, but might from behind their computer...
Maybe it is time you thought about blogging with your students. When you blog, you can publish information and choose whether you would like to have feedback or not. I would encourage your students to read your blogs and post comments. It is a perfect opportunity to teach them appropriate posting; grammar, spelling...complete sentences.
Here are a couple of links to start you out in the world of blogging.
10 Tips for bloggers
blogging for beginners
blogging tips for teens