I’d take a hand written letter from the president over a blog comment from him any day- although the coment would be exciting too!

Somehow I feel sad to think about old-fashioned correspondence disappearing, even though I’m contributing to its demise faster than anyone else.
I e-mail the same people who used to pass me all those notes, and I think our connection is stronger for being in touch regularly. I’m addicted to the convenience of online communication, and I’d rather be in touch with someone than only get around to sending a long letter every few months or years.

It’s just sad I’m too lazy to do both—send thoughtful, handwritten letters at least once a year and e-mail the rest of the time. But what would I say in a letter if it’s all been said already on my Facebook wall?

Thanks for bringing this up, Sara. As you can see, it has me thinking.

I do lengthy, deep emails with three tight friends, a few times a year. I think of them as private messages, aimed at one person only. Blogging? Very different, the performance element is a factor, but I agree, like letters, focusing on that part kills the intimacy of the thing. The best bloggers strike a fine balance between public and private.

I now twitter–and the short little bursts immediately reminded me of all the old western-union messages I read in my research. Not quite as brief as texting, but in the same zip code. And of course, delivery is immediate. I ran out of cleverness re my daily life within a week and began a novel in the 140-charaters or less format on Twitter. But many people are creating the perfect balance there between intimate and public. It’s very interesting to me, how the internet is giving us back our villages. In terms of hive-brain and shared reactions, I sometimes think we are a half inch from becoming bees. Or termites. electronic pheromones.