No one writes letters anymore: the de-personalization of communication

Ever since the introduction and wide usage of electronic mail in the 1990s, other forms of communication have dwindled considerably. The communication medium most affected by the onset of email has been the paper-and-ink letter, an alternative relegated to the term “snail mail” as of late. Not only has the “art” of letter-writing all but disappeared among the younger generations due to the popularity of electronic mail and instant messages, but the costs incurred from writing and sending letters, as well as time spent writing them dissuade users further. In an age that requires increased speed and more complicated multitasking, emails have overwhelmingly become the norm. But how has the introduction in 2004 and booming success of Facebook affected this trend? Does there remain any hope for personalized communication?

The Facebook feature that most resembles the private and direct nature of the electronic email or paper letter is the message. The ability to send these messages from one’s Facebook, rather than opening another browser window or adding an additional “tab” to one’s window further expedites the communication process. In a matter seconds, senders have written, proofread, and sent an electronic letter free of charge. And the most convenient feature of electronic mail: it’s instantly in the recipient’s digital mailbox. Time has become one of modern man’s greatest adversaries, particularly with the constant perfection and re-perfection of technology and computer processing speed. The ability to have completed the expression of and sent information in an instantaneous manner has transformed electronic communication from a convenient method to a fully necessary one. To much of the world, the prospect of waiting a few days to a week for a single message to arrive (and that is just domestic communication) is unacceptable. This widespread, if not complete, movement towards the necessity of speed concerning communication has eliminated more time-consuming or “strenuous” methods, including letter writing, phone usage, postcards.

Will the basic written letter become the telegram? How soon from 2010 will the letter fall into complete disuse? As the youngest generations have had no experience with the telegraph, what does this say about the survival of the letter? How will networking sites like Facebook affect the communication styles of children born in the second decade of the millennium? The popularity of electronic mail over postage has incurred billions of dollars of deficit for the United States Postal Service. Under these conditions, it is difficult to see a bright future for postal services, particularly since USPS now competes for packages, something you as of yet cannot send by your laptop, with Federal Express and the United Parcel Service. Many parents and grandparents of our generation share the worry that communication among the youth has become depersonalized and desensitized, and that it caters to the growing impatience of the 21st century generations. Is Facebook, itself a personalized networking site, personal enough for sufficient human interaction? Leading into my next post, do social networks bring us closer by keeping us in touch with those we don’t see in-person, or does it distance its users by placing them behind a computer screen to communicate?