Today's technologically connected youth
type quick messages on their cell phones,
but may not have taken a pen to paper. They
might never do so. Could handwritten letters
cease to exist in the near future? This is a
real possibility, because the number of
people who keep letter writing alive is
shrinking fast. With social media and the
convenience of modern technology, why
would anyone bother to write a letter when
it's quicker and less expensive to send a
message instantaneously?
Text messages
It's faster to type abbreviated messages on
the keypad of a cell phone without thinking
about grammar, spelling, or
penmanship. Children born in the 1990s and
2000s haven't known any other way to
communicate with their friends. Taking out
a treasured letter, reading the words, and
thinking about the person who wrote it
isn't a common sight in the twenty-first
century. The pace of life is too fast to
indulge in this activity.
New Lifestyles
There was a time (when traditional letter
writing was the norm) when people took
the time to think about the message they
wanted to convey, and the impact it
would have on the recipient. Sending and
receiving written letters was special for a lot
of people because by making an effort to
craft such a wonderful letter, one person
was telling another that he or she cared.
Soldiers in the U.S. Civil War wrote some of
the most elegant and heartfelt letters one
could ever hear. Their families would wait
days or even weeks to receive those letters.
Think of the excitement they felt when the
letters finally arrived.
As a society, we are losing sight of how
important written messages used to be.
Technology has improved by leaps and
bounds, but what we say to one another is
more impersonal and
fleeting. Communication between
businesses is achieved by electronic means,
i.e., email. These are read quickly and then
discarded. Most Americans have access to a
computer either at home or in a library,
and send most of their daily messages via
email even if a friend or relative is halfway
around the world. It's unfortunate that
there may be nothing to look back on, and
as a result the world will be poorer socially
and culturally.
A Lack of Time
Most of us are busy and pressed for
time. It's a busy world and it doesn't slow
down even if we want it to. Responsibilities
are omnipresent. When there is any time left
over after work or household chores there
is a sense that we don't have much left to
give. Writing a letter is probably near the
bottom of the list of daily priorities. Will this
forgotten are poorly appreciated art form
ever be as popular as it once was? It will, if
we take (or make) the time to do it.