HAPPY NEW YEAR

Christmas and New Year’s Cards - Why and how do people send them?

Do you send Christmas and/or New Year’s cards to people or are you one of those who switched to e-cards? How come and why do we keep up with this tradition?

The fundamental reason why people send greeting cards during Christmas and New Years’ season is they simply want to send their personal thoughts and whishes on the people they love and care for; these greetings support a relation of warmth and care for loved ones and people you feel close with.

Remember that the X-mas and New Year’s period is all about a moment of (re-) connection with family and friends; it’s a typical bonding moment in which these greeting cards support the love and warmth amongst people.

Maybe you dabbled with the idea of replacing traditional paper cards with electronic cards or maybe you found your fireplace mantel a little less crowded this year?

Indeed, people express these feelings of love and hope in different ways and for different reasons:

• Some really stick to traditional greeting cards and will never consider sending e-cards. Indeed there is still a charm to sending (and receiving) one of those old-fashioned cards. Sending paper cards do not only show strong involvement from the sender but moreover the receiver often puts these cards on the wall or on the fireplace mantel because they are addressed to the whole family or simply because he wants to share these whishes with the whole family. This sharing dimension is less prominent when receiving e-cards in your personal computer or text messages on your smart phone.

• Many other people feel that sending postcards is old-fashioned. With the hassle of finding a stamp, a post office or a mailbox, many have stopped sending postcards entirely. They apply a more modern way to cope with this tradition. This rise in e-card popularity has two origins: a cultural shift toward computers and a concern for the environment in the form of paper consumption. E-card popularity might primarily reflect our increasing dependence on the Internet and some may think it has green benefits as well but this is doubtful when you think of the ecological footprint of your PC.
• A lot of these young people also have very few of their friends and family's actual postal addresses these days because they’re born in the 80’s, they’re Gen Y'ers concerned with speed and convenience. Emails, Facebook messages, You Tube and immediate, free phone calls and chats via Skype have replaced this quaint, traditional postal method.

• To some of those who adopt a more modern way of coping with the New Year greetings tradition- the use of modern communication tools is also a means to showcase their skills. They spend time and effort designing these whishes into a You Tube movie to send their friends. Imagine an e-card that is actually a link to YouTube on which you’ve uploaded a video with a personal message. Probably more than the greetings, they feel rewarded when others appreciate their work.

• Social media are a great way to get back in touch with people you’ve lost communication with somewhere along the way. Some people making use of Facebook take advantage of this X-mas and New Year’s tradition to re-invest in these relations. These whishes can mean a lot to the receiver who hadn’t heard from the sender for a long time. It may also be a nice tool to serve as a peace offering or a sign of forgiveness to those people one hasn’t exactly had the best relationship with.

Whether you’re more a classic paper card sender or a more modern e-card user, sending greetings still is a nice tradition and the receiver will surely value your effort.

Wish you all a happy and bright 2012 !

Jan Bryssinck

Client Service Director