Letters vs. Modern Communication

Despite all that is done to advance modern technology, to make it faster and easier to get in touch with people, letters are still a far superior method of communication.

Modern communication is so much faster.  You can send an email, and have it replied to before you've gotten off the computer.  You can text someone, and keep up conversations with multiple people at once, while having a real conversation with someone else.  With all these snapchats and social medias, you can send pictures, so you can even make faces at people.  With 3G, Wi-Fi, 4G, each new internet seeming to reduce the time it takes to load something from 0.01 seconds to 0.001 seconds (that's ten times faster, and clearly saves you a significant 0.009 seconds), you don't have to wait for anything.

Why then are letters superior?

It's quite simple actually.  Ironically, it's because they're slow.

You write someone a letter.  You put it in the mail.  And you wait.  But you don't just sit around and do nothing.  You go about your normal life.  Every day, you check the mail, even when it's so early that you know they couldn't have possibly responded yet.  And then, when the day arrives, you're filled with a feeling of joy that can hardly be described.

You read the letter, and there's a month's worth of information in it.  Even better, all the information's important.  It contains all the stuff you want to know, and none of the unimportant junk you see on social media.  He or she has answered all of your questions, and has several more for you.

And there's no instant rush to respond.  If you have to wait a day, that's fine.  When you do write, you take your time, and put thought into what you say.  The amount of information you cram in your words is amazing.  And you ask more questions.  And the cycle continues.

Obviously, letters are not for people that you see on a daily basis.  Neither is any form of modern communication.  The best method for those people predates letters: actually real live conversation.

I write with three people now.  Next year, when I'm away at college, I hope to write with even more.  I made the offer at the cast party, asking for people's addresses, and two people took me up on it.  I'm grateful for those two, though I'm going to want more than that.  It won't be complicated or overly time consuming, as I won't be spending too much time texting or social mediaing.  Just the best way to stay in touch with people there is.

-NM