Twenty Years of Postcrossing
I’ve been involved in Postcrossing for twenty years now. I’m not super active. But every so often I get into a groove where I’m sending out a few postcards a week, and it’s a lot of fun.
Why I like it
I love getting mail from all over the world. The stamps are cool, the images are cool, and the postmarks and cancellations are cool. Best of all, I get to hear from people who live in cultures completely different from mine.
I’ve done this kind of thing before. Back in the day (in the 70s), I used pen pal services and sent letters back and forth. These days, I don’t have time to write and track letters with one person. It wouldn’t be fair to sign up for something like that, because I don’t think I could keep up with it consistently.
Postcrossing is lower engagement, with more return for a smaller investment of time and attention.
How it works
You sign up, and you’re allowed to have a fixed number of postcards in flight at once. At the beginning, that’s just a handful. The number goes up as you gain more XP in the system.
When you request to send a postcard, the system gives you another user’s address along with their profile: their likes, interests, and some basic information. You send them a postcard, and then your name goes into the queue. When somebody else requests to send a postcard, your name eventually pops off that queue, and that person sends one to you.
There’s never really any one-to-one communication. You send postcards out into the ether, and you get postcards from the ether.
Why it works for me
That’s exactly what I like about it. I don’t have to spend a whole bunch of time making sure I don’t repeat myself or keep things interesting for one person. I don’t have to worry about getting busy and failing to respond in a timely manner.
I still get lots of correspondence from different parts of the world, without having to invest deeply in any one exchange. If you like mail and have a little time, give Postcrossing a try.