Snail Mail vs. E-mail...which is more personal?

When reading about this assignment, I was excited to have the chance to express my feelings to people who really impact my life. I love being able share my feelings with the people I love and feel that I am able to relay my true feelings more effectively through the written word. Choosing two people to write to was not very difficult since I chose THE two people who have had the biggest influence on my life.

First, I chose to send an e-mail to my Mom. I talk to my Mom on the phone multiple times throughout the day, so I knew that receiving a letter from me (regardless if it were via e-mail or long-hand) would be a surprise to her. I figured there is no one who could have had more of an impact on my life than the person who gave birth to me and who also happens to be my best friend. Although we talk daily, it is rarely about anything in-depth and is more about our daily activities and telling her about her grandchildren. Writing a note to her and thanking her for all that she has done for me, made me feel good and made me really appreciate this assignment for giving me an opportunity to do something I should have done anyways. I found that while the e-mail was not very long in length, I was able to say what I felt and get it to her quickly…she read it the following day (when she happened to be at my house visiting) and hugged me and told me how much I meant to her.

The second person I chose to write to is my husband, John. Initially I was going to e-mail him, but decided that it would have much more of an impact for him to receive “snail mail” from me. Needless to say, he was pretty surprised to find mail from a person he lives with and sees each day. I found this letter a little more difficult to write, I’m no longer used to sitting down with pen and paper…and then I had the difficult task of hunting for an envelope and stamp! This letter ended up being much longer in and I went into more detail and felt like I was conveying what I was feeling better than when I wrote the e-mail. Also, I feel that the handwritten letter was much more meaningful and personal to my husband and he was very pleased that I took the time and wrote him. Although I had hoped he would write back, he isn’t really one for writing and just told me how he felt through words instead. It really made for a great way for me to express my appreciation for someone who I take for granted many times.

In our Postman reading this week, he talks about the information glut and that there can be TOO much information out there, especially with the invention of new technologies. One example of this was the invention of the telegraph which, according to Postman “The telegraph removed space as the inevitable constraint on the movement of information, and, for the first time, transportation and communication were disengaged from each other.” (page 67). I think of this in relation to the invention of computer and the use of e-mail and see how this has, once again, drastically changed communication between people. Gone are the days that we sit down and write to people who may live far away from us, more likely than not, sending an e-mail is easier to do (how lazy have we become that finding paper, pen, envelope and stamp is a hardship?) and the message arrives instantly to the other person. While the use of e-mail does make things faster, are we losing something with the use of it? After this assignment, I realize that when sending e-mail instead of a written letter, we do lose something…to me; e-mail just seems much colder and maybe a little TOO easy. If you really want to convey a message to someone, a hand-written letter just seems so much more personal and shows you really put for the effort for that person.