Decided to activate my Facebook account temporally in order to convey my holiday greetings to near and dear ones (since most people never reply to my emails). I was thus confronted with the usual phenomenon of “the one line wonder” or rather the common practice of keeping in contact with relatives and friends through a one liner (be it a greeting or a comment or a query). In most cases, people even tended to use GIF stickers in order to convey Christmas and New Year wishes. Another phenomenon that tends to trouble me is the system of instant messengers (Whatsapp being the worldwide favorite). There are a plethora of them these days, beginning with Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal, Skype, and thus the list tends to go on and on. Once midnight set in on the 24th of December, my Whatsapp messenger was flooded with one line wonders. All this made me think about my childhood when Christmas meant lovely paper cards and long letters delivered by post. Those were exciting days when computers were used by few and most people relied on the good old postman to deliver their holiday cards. And I remember my mother stringing up those cards across our living room and admiring the various colors splashed across the same. Those cards and the winter sunshine filtering through the same were a part and parcel of my childhood and its marzipan encrusted memories. Alas ! Those cards are no more. Nowadays scouting for cards in my native city is akin to embarking upon a treasure hunt. I often hear the sentences : “Nowadays no one uses cards madam.” “Everyone is into SMS these days. That’s why we do not keep greetings cards in our shop.”
I have nothing against the progress of civilization and technology, but what I fear that this culture of one liners or “the one line wonder” as I call it would ultimately lead to the gradual liquidation of the habit of writing (be it letters or any other mode of communication). I suppose most children will hold onto this habit of daily writing or scribbling in their notebooks till they graduate high school, but after that the situation seems rather grim with the influx of smart phones and computers. With Email already being relegated to the domain of office work, and messengers taking over personal communication, I doubt how long we can keep up the tradition of writing beyond the famous one liner message. I wonder if blogs will even remain in the next few years or whether we will all be forced to write truncated thoughts and emotions tailor made for 500 characters on social media sites.
Hoping for a miracle in the universe of the written word in the near future. And wishing for the long forgotten tradition of hand made and printed cards to revive once more. Au revoir !
I’m glad I’m not the only person feeling this way! I too miss the written word, and not only at Christmas. Forty odd year ago, when I married for the first time, I was warmly welcomed into the family letter writing circle by my uncle in Canada. My mum and my sisters were also members, as was a cousin in Australia and another in northern England. We used to write and receive newsy, gossipy missives from each other every couple of months, and I can still remember the excitement whenever an airmail letter postmarked Ottawa or Sydney or Windermere arrived, addressed in beautiful script using a real fountain pen rather than a ball-point. And of course stacks of lovely Christmas and birthday cards
The circle died out with the relatives, to be replaced by the more convenient email and, latterly, as you say, WhatApp, Messenger and assorted other social media crapware. Last year, I decided to try and revive the practice. I contacted the surviving relatives and a couple of long-lost but recently re-discovered friends from my long ago youth, and asked if they would be happy to correspond and give me their addresses. Everyone thought it a great idea, so in November 2021 I bought some cards, a decent writing pad and a rollerball pen (I couldn’t find a fountain pen locally!), and spent a joyous week writing personal letters to everyone. I posted them all at the beginning of December, in plenty of time.
The result? I received two (2!) cards and not a single letter. Some of my cards weren’t received until January this year (I know this because the recipients thanked me on Facebook). The experiment was a complete and utter failure, and I was surprised how much that hurt.
This year I didn’t bother: a one-liner on Facebook must suffice……
Sorry to hear about your experience. I’ve had many such similar experiences. The snail mail has died completely in my country except for official mails. The same goes for the email too. Most people have simply given up on the art of letter writing. I personally dislike messengers of any kind, but I am tied to the same because of my work. People at work tend to rely on messengers more nowadays. In short, things are pretty dismal for the serious writer living in any modern society or country.