WSJ’s Ellen Gamerman writes about how couples manage their digital lives together.

Donna and i have faced some similar challenges. Having a shared email address hasn’t really come up: we both have several each, in fact, and we rely on them so much it would drive us crazy to mix all their content together (though there’s nothing in mine i wouldn’t share with her, and i’m sure she feels the same). We just CC each other on things (like family email) that concern us both. This can be frustrating with people who just don’t get the Reply All concept (and there are lots of them), since then we have to make up them by forwarding things ourselves. Donna’s folks had a good laugh when they caught us emailing each other … in the same room.

We have separate MP3 players: since we mostly use them for audio books, it’s too frustrating to have to search for where you last left off (but we don’t have pricey iPods, so owning two isn’t a big deal). Our shared Netflix queue isn’t really a problem: i didn’t even know before reading the article you could have two. But we always watch TV together anyway (though surprisingly often we both say “i thought you put that movie on our queue: I’ve never heard of it!”). Sometimes she’s uncomfortable with things i blog about being too personal (this post might be one of them!). I’m always encouraging her to blog more, because she’s a really a good writer: back when she was regularly blogging, most of our friends read her blog instead of mine, because at least they could understand it. Though we have a shared Amazon account, i don’t much care if the recommendations get blurry, and i’ve completely monopolized the wishlist (so beware if you think you’re buying a book for Donna!).

Declining technology prices solve many of these problems. I recently bought her a hard drive for a photo scanning project, but hard drives are cheap, so it’s doesn’t feel like we’re not sharing. The most interesting question the article raises for me is how to convert the traditional solitude and individuality of on-line environments into truly shared space.

(Hat-tip to slashdot)