The Death Of The Christmas Newsletter?

 

I have an unhappy relationship with holiday greetings. I have not managed to send out a Christmas card - or holiday card of any kind, actually, since 2000.

That was the year I lost my address book.

My first reaction, upon learning I had lost all those addresses should have been one of despair, right?

It was unbridled relief.

Relief at the thought that I had a legitmate excuse for not sending out holiday cards that year.

Why? Why such distast for a time honored tradition loved by millions of people? I mean, who doesn't like to get Christmas cards? And, I must confess here that I eagerly await all the cards other people send me. (Which is, of course, completely unfair and hypocritical.)

I burned out on Chrstimas cards because of the new tradition - probably started in the 1990's - of the CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER. 

Before the Christmas newsletter became such a staple of our lives, it was easy to divide my cards up into two piles.

1) Close friends and family who I see regularly - these are folks who completely don't mind if we just sign our name to the card and

2) People we almost never see (we may not have actually seen them in years) - these folks you have to write a little note to catching them up on your life and inquiring about theirs.

And that was the extent of it. 

Pile number one always went very quickly and pile number two went a little more slowly but it wasn't that bad because the note was a politeness. A mere 5 sentence summary of the state of our lives - maybe a little more, maybe a little less. The note was NOT a blow by blow description of every illness or every acheivement.

Now that they have been around a while, Chrismas letters have evolved somewhat in that there are a few people who do them very well. They strike just the right balance of chattiness and catching you up without beating you over the head with accomplishments that make you feel like chopped liver or depressing the daylights out of you with their litany of sorrows.

But is this all, now, a moot point? 

Because now we have Facebook. And Twitter. And Google+. And Blogs. 

We are awash in each other's news. 

I can now find out the almost day to day activities of anyone I've chosen to interact with via social networking and the internet. 

Does this mean the impending death of the Christmas newsletter?

Boy, I hope so! 

I have a new address book and my two piles of cards ready to go.

 

Comments

[StBeals]

I think you hit the nail on the head. Social media has replaced the Christmas card. The good news is that I no longer receive an Annual Report from a couple of people who sent Christmas letters that were so long I had to put them on my reading list.

[anne hambrock]

Well I still hope people send cards because I love them for the art! I also make jigsaw puzzles out of them later. I just want the newsletter part to go away!

BTW - how did you get your avatar to show up?