Post Cards, Birthday Cards and other Hand-written notes

     I was looking through an old box of stuff that my mom had saved and I found some old post cards some of my friends sent me when I was just a young boy.  I'm sure their parents made them write the postcards but it was still fun to read them again even though they contained nothing of great importance.  There was something intriguing about reading a post card that was written over 50 years ago, it brought back happy memories.

     When was the last time you received a postcard?  How many Christmas cards or Birthday cards do you get now versus 10 or 20 years ago?  Do you still get thank you notes for gifts?  Written communication has changed because of Facebook and other similar sites.  I'm not saying that's all bad but different in that it doesn't seem as special to get a birthday greeting on Facebook as it does getting a birthday card in the mail.

     Hand written letters and post cards seem to have totally disappeared, which is disappointing because if someone takes the time out of their day to handwrite a letter or set aside a little time during their vacation to send you a post card they value your friendship.  Writing a birthday post on Facebook is nice but requires very little effort.  Don't get me wrong I appreciate it and make these post as well.  It's an easy way to stay connected, which is important plus you can connect with old friends that you may have lost contact with but if you receive a handwritten birthday card it just seems a little more personal.

     I've noticed with all the electronic communication (text, tweets, post, etc.) that we use more acronyms which is not necessarily a bad thing but it seems like we are losing our ability to write in proper English.  I know language changes over time, we no longer use thee and thy in our daily communications like people did many years ago, but I have to believe that this strange FaceBook Language will create a bigger communication gap between generations.

     Would you want to read a book sprinkled with all these FaceBook acronyms?  I wouldn't but the truth is some people may be fine with that.  To me words create pictures and well-written phases using descriptive words expand your imagination allowing you to create your own scenes to fit the written words.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that your choice of words makes a difference and have an impact.

     I think Facebook and the other social media sites are great ways to stay in touch with others but I hate to think it will completely replace other forms of communication.  

     Here's how I imagine a future heartfelt Facebook post to be:

"Happy Birthday we're having great time on vacation, wish you were here, we will be here through Christmas, so Merry Christmas and thanks for your generous gift."

Done and Done "Just Saying...."