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Brits Prefer 'Emotional' Postcards to Texts to Keep in Touch

by VR Sreeraman on Aug 2 2009 1:34 PM

A new survey has shown that most Brits on holiday prefer to stick to the traditional postcard to tell family and friends what they have been up to.

The survey conducted by Abta found that over half (59 percent) of Brits prefer to send cards than a text or email, and 53 percent prefer to receive them.

The travel organisation predicts 130 million cards will be sent across the world this summer, with 28 million coming from the UK alone.

They will be sent from sun-kissed destinations such as Australia and the Caribbean, but also from rather less exotic places such as Reading.

Londoners are the most prolific when it comes to sending postcards, posting an average of 3.83 a year. Residents of Belfast (1.63) send the fewest.

"Postcards are a Great British tradition and it's wonderful that people have such affection for them still," Sky News quoted Brian Lund, editor of Picture Postcard Monthly Magazine as saying.

"Postcards are much more enduring than a text message or email. They are a souvenir forever," he said.

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Psychologist Donna Dawson thinks postcards have a sentimental value not matched by newer means of communication.

"Picture postcards will always beat emails, texts and SMS messages, because they are something that you can hold in your hand and observe close up," she said.

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"They also create a stronger emotional response than the newer methods of communication.

"A postcard becomes a souvenir of a person or persons at a particular time and place, as well as a physical reminder that someone has gone to the time and trouble of selecting, writing and posting you something.

"In these technologically fast-moving times, that is something to be treasured," she added.

Source-ANI
SRM


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