Sunday, December 19, 2021

HOLIDAY GREETING CARDS -- EMAIL TIMELINES

Short holiday letters with no greeting cards for the first time were what I mailed this year.  I guess sending holiday greeting cards are a thing of the past for me now.   Not many left with which to engage in our traditional holiday activity with personal updates, caring messages as we caught up with each others year.  I really miss sending and receiving all those cards and letters as occurred in yesteryear but that was then, and this is now.  Actually, I've also missed letter exchanges throughout the rest of the year, though there have been a few emails, but not quite the same. 

Frank Sinatra 

"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself A Letter)

Swing Easy!  Album -- 1998 Capitol Records, LLC


What is it with email that when I receive one that I feel I must respond quickly, likely even the next day, or is that just my reaction and others don't feel that way?   I can see such promptness is a good business practice, but should that timeline apply with personal correspondence?

I still remember the days before we had the internet, do you?  How did you stay in contact with friends and family who lived some distance from you?   Did you exchange phone calls -- calls that perhaps were long distance, incurring additional charges?  Did you also exchange letters written back and forth -- handwritten, or typed on those now old-fashioned devices called typewriters, manual or electric?  (I still have two.)

Personal letter exchanges were often spaced weeks or months apart.  After finding time and getting in a writing mood to respond, the letters took a number of days for the U.S. Postal Service to transport, then deliver them.    Corresponding parties were quite accepting of such a time gap in contact.  Then, we got the internet with email.  Suddenly, seems like people began expecting much quicker responses, almost to the point of being instant or, at least next day.   Just how many days can be acceptably allowed to lapse before sending a response to a friend's email?

This came to mind when someone with whom I had recent contact sent me a short email two days after receiving my email noting that life was hectic right then, but a response would be coming on the weekend.  I appreciated receiving that thoughtful note, but it did set me thinking and recalling how years ago if we'd been exchanging letters, a week, maybe two, or even more could have gone by which would have simply been not only expected but quite acceptable by both parties.  There would have been no need to write explaining a delay.  What is an acceptable response timeline now?

This was an issue for me when I first began using a computer, sending emails.  I took my cues about what the expected frequency behavior was from those who were longtime email users now emailing me.  What occurred is that the primary person with whom I was first emailing, other than my adult children, was a new acquaintance.  That person almost always responded to my emails the next day at the latest and if later apologized for the delay.   I concluded this very prompt response was the accepted timeline expected with emails and tried to do the same which often created extreme pressures for me.

Quite some time passed before I began to realize a next day response was probably an ideal business practice, but my correspondence with this person I believed to be personal, not business.  So, I didn't realize until much later I did not need to respond so promptly even though the other person continued the rapid response.    I had begun to feel like a hamster on a wheel trying to keep up before finally ceasing to  do so.  I wish I had known this in the beginning, but I had thought I should follow what appeared to me to be the expected digital internet-world timeline for email correspondence.   

Do you have timelines you follow with email correspondence?  Are they different than when you corresponded with hand-written or typed letters years ago, including business versus personal with family and friends?

24 comments:

  1. I open my email every afternoon and whatever needs a response gets one immediately. I rarely write/send emails unless the respondent is without access to other means of communication or, it is an organisation, or when I want to attach some photographs or other media.

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    1. That's interesting that you generally use other communication means than emails.

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  2. Pre email days too, I used to immediately respond to letters received as I rarely got them but, when I did, they were from important people conveying important information and needed to be responded immediately.

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    1. That sounds pretty much like pre-email days was mostly business communication.

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  3. I think the emails are part of the reason for the drop off of Christmas cards and certainly letters. I am more in contact now with friends and family than I ever was pre-email. I usually have a day or two turn around on the emails unless they are asking for specific information or announcing an event that requires a congratulations or an "I'm so sorry to hear--."

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    1. I think you’re right about the use of email for some displacing letter writing. I certainly probably have much more frequent contact with my children but the few remaining living friends either have sensory limitations e.g. vision, hearing and/or cognitive issues or haven’t gotten a computer for whatever their reasons, also had internet connection issues for another thing. They may not have anyone readily available to help them. Frankly, I’ve been surprised at the reticence some developed but given others of them are gone now they may have had more functional issues than known. I know some specifically asked for continued hand written or typed letters i would put on Word, print and send them. Had she been living my mother wouldn't have been able to use a computer or other digital devices due to vision though she was mentally sharp as a task, managing to do other things.

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  4. I access email every day, sometimes several times. If it's a social email, I respond when I am in the mood since I am a chatty writer. If it is business, I respond ASAP.

    I still write "snail" mail letters to several people because I value that medium. One recipient is, however, quite elderly and is not a computer user.

    I gave up the holiday card thing ages ago. It seemed wasteful and environmentally irresponsible to me. I mean, what do you do with the card besides look at it for a time and then toss it? We all know that recycling is no longer a fully viable program in the USA, at least not in all areas of the country. Sending cards also became more of a chore than a joy, so it was easy to give up.

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    1. I guess the variety of response forms and timelines I’ve followed aren’t far off what others follow much like you describe.

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  5. I'm heading out the door but wanted to wish you a good Holiday first. It will be a strange one for sure. Love that you keep your blog going.

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  6. Email is so much better than snail mail.

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    1. In many respects I agree, though I find people generally don't write the long newsy letters they once did. Mostly emails may or may not be more frequent but often are much briefer, even sound bites at times.

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  7. Even blog entries, which are longer, seem to be growing briefer.

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    1. I’ve been thinking I should shorten my blog content.

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  8. I don't think there's any standard timeline for replying to emails. I think it's entirely up to the recipient to decide when to reply. To some extent I take my cue from the other person - if they've taken weeks to reply, I'll take weeks also. But yes, we all keep in much closer contact with people now than we used to in the pre-email era.

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    1. That’s pretty much what I’ve decided is best to do — respond at whatever frequency my correspondent does unless, of course, there is some matter that might need a quicker response.

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  9. I still send Christmas Cards, though I find it less satisfying then I used to. I do enjoy seeing pictures of my friends and their kids, and now sometimes, grandkids. But I miss the hand written notes, even if they are just good wishes for the year ahead. I like the fact that I am in more contact with many via email and Facebook and so on, which means that long letters in Christmas Cards are no longer needed. I used to spend a LOT of time on those, not a typed letter for everyone, but instead, a hand written letter for each person.

    I still send occasional letters in the mail, but it’s becoming more and more rare. It’s too bad, I miss it. As for timing, I don’t remember feeling a rush about it when I would get a letter. Usually a few days of turnaround would be my timing. I rarely wait to reply to an email…it does feel like once I read it it needs an answer, unless it is long and newsy. Then I take my time to reply.

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    1. There aren't the long newsy letters there once were, summing up someone's year it seems which I enjoyed writing and sharing, too. More frequent contact, usually with brief comments during busy lives, often can be hit and miss with some I find.

      I sometimes feel enthused to respond to an email on its receipt, so if I have time I write a response right then, but don't send it -- keep it as a draft to send later less my correspondent feel rushed.

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  10. I have to admit that I’m a same-day answerer of emails. Next day at the very latest. I get a bit anxious if I leave it too long.
    Even back in the snail mail days I’d start the reply pretty much immediately, although it might have taken a few days to finish. I wrote by hand, I didn’t have a typewriter.
    I seldom phoned as the appropriate people were a long way away – America, Greece, Britain, so it was the letter for them.

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    1. Same day is okay with me but in some instances i might not reply quite as promptly now to emailers if just ordinary matters. I’ve, at least, formed a sense some flexibility isn’t likely to-be thought of badly.

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  11. I try to respond to emails the day I received them so that they do not fall into the bottom of the list and I forget. I also loved getting greeting cards, but we get just a dozen or so these days. Life changes and we must go with the flow.

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    1. It is harder to track emails if they're not answered right away. My greeting cards have dwindled to only a few but that's largely because everyone has died.

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  12. I respond to emails the day I receive them too. However, most of my communication these days is by text. We're getting a bunch of Christmas cards that are cards with just their name on it with no personal touch at all. I think photocards are fine because I can at least see how they look now. But a card with just their name to me is a waste of time and money. Hmmm... I'm sounding like a scrooge. Oops! I was just stopping by to say Happy Holidays to you! Have a safe and fun time tomorrow!

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    1. I agree with you about cards with just a name and no personal note. I'm celebrating virtually so pretty safe.

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