Do We Still Need Snail Mail?

January 15, 2011 By 14 Comments

This week in Atlanta we had 5 snow days in a row.  (Yes, 5!)

Schools and many businesses were closed all week.

Many people did not have mail delivered for 4 days or more due to the snow and ice.

And for me, I did not miss it at all!

So I ask, what would you miss if you did not have physical mail delivery?

In fact, do we still need physical mail delivery?

No Snail Mail? No Problem!

This past week, I only got 2 mail deliveries.  It didn’t cause any problems for me at all.

For many of us, the majority of our correspondence has moved online.

From email to Facebook to Twitter, do we still need physical mail delivery?  And if so, how often do we truly need it?

I do not need it everyday.  Maybe 1-2 times a week.

Now, to be specific, I am referring to mail.  Not packages.  I like the UPS and FedEx model of delivering only what I have ordered. Maybe traditional mail should work the same way?

I am not going to say that many people do not use traditional mail, but I want to point out that many of us have moved beyond it.

What’s In Your Mail?

If you take a moment to truly examine what you receive via traditional mail, what is it?  (Besides the junk mail and solicitations…)

What do you use your snail mail for these days?

- Magazines?

- Bills?  (why?)

- Letters?  (not likely…)

- Junk mail (too much!)

Let’s look at some of these…

  • Bills – I pay all of my bills electronically.  I do not write a single physical check for my bills.  They are all paid online, many automatically.  I will even avoid doing business with companies that do not accept online payment.
  • Communication – This one is obvious.  Email, Facebook, Twitter, and text messages have all but replaced traditional letters.  Some would say this is unfortunate, and I agree that a physical letter can be a great way to send something meaningful.
  • Sharing – Remember, when we used to mail photos?  News clippings?  And more?  Now all of that can be shared effortlessly, and instantly, via the web.

Do You Need It?

So, do we really need daily snail mail?

It will be interesting to see where snail mail is in a few years.  There have already been discussions of eliminating Saturday delivery.

For me, I prefer to limit my inboxes.  And mine are online.

What about you?  Do you need snail mail delivery every day?

Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management
  • kulturnation

    Sure, i need snail mail: Making mail art this is essential.

  • scottcheatham

    Like you, I have most of my correspondence now delivered via email and filtered automatically to appropriate folders. The only thing I could use mail for is my Amazon orders and related type purchases.

    • TMNinja

      @scottcheatham Agreed! I buy almost everything on Amazon.

      Think that mail should be only be allowed to deliver things we authorize. :)

  • aishahhils

    Okay, I’m the one who just responded flabbergastedly on twitter. YES, I still need snail mail. I use snail mail primarily for writing cards and letters (and receiving them). And while I love to send packages and receive those as well, most of the people I snailmail with (who are also people I communicate regularly with online and via phone) are not well off enough financially to afford more than a few stamps – and a lot of the time, neither am I. My life would be a much less happy place if it were not for letters and cards – no matter how much of my communication (personal and business) happens via facebook. Yes, I do pay bills online and do as much other stuff as possible online. But that does not erase the necessity of snail mail.

    • TMNinja

      @aishahhils I agree that handwritten letters and cards are more meaningful. Truly the best way to express personal feelings. And great to receive, too.

      However, would love to see an elimination of junk mail. And think it would not be bad if we reduced the number of deliveries per week. :)

    • aishahhils

      @TMNinja i agree with regards to junk mail and perhaps even with lessening the number of deliveries. however…the thing that makes me afraid is that any attempt to restrict mailing activities will probably have unhappy consequences for people who most need it. poor people, those without access to computers, prisoners, the elderly, the otherwise institutionalized, deployed soldiers and their families – many of these people depend on snail mail for communication. and unfortunately they are some of the most silenced and vulnerable populations. aside from my own love of letter-writing, this is the reason i am so vehemently against restricting snail mail. at the risk of sounding alarmist – anytime i hear people say “we don’t really need snail mail,” it puts my hackles up, because well, yeah, most middle and upper class americans don’t need it. but people with computers make up a very small fraction of the world’s population – even if they are the vocal majority in power in america. getting rid of junk mail would be nice, yes, but i wish people would think twice about how they word things when they talk about how snail mail is supposedly “obsolete.” for a lot of folks, snail mail is not only not obsolete, it is a vital lifeline. and as much as i respect the fact that usps adds to carbon emissions, we had a postal service for quite some time before we had an environmental crisis. twitter and facebook and your home internet access and package delivery all add to carbon emissions as well. there are plenty of much more effective ways to cut carbon emissions without touching the postal service.

    • aishahhils

      @TMNinja and i’d like to add…i really do love this blog and i apologize for not making more positive comments, because there are many to be made! unfortunately i had a very knee-jerk negative reaction to this post because of my own experience as a poor person and because i’ve worked with prison populations, in homeless shelters, and with people who desperately need the mail. i would like to say that 99% of the time i love what you post and find it very valuable.

    • TMNinja

      @aishahhils Good stuff!

      Opinions and passion are good. I appreciate when people share theirs. :)

  • chriscfox

    I wonder by how much carbon emissions could be reduced if we eliminated snail mail (in the way that you suggest) or even just junk mail?

    • TMNinja

      @chriscfox I thought about doing an experiment of keeping every single piece of junk mail received this year… and then weighing it at the end of the year.

      Then I thought not. :)

  • http://facebook.com/saidandsung Saidandsung

    Craig! I can’t believe you wrote about this TODAY, when I was just thinking that since today is a holiday, I was so sorry to not be able to check snail mail … federal holidays make me so sad. It’s always been such a magical thing for me, each day, checking the mail. I think because you never know when you’ll get a surprise letter or a card or freelance check (yes!). Don’t get me wrong, I get plenty of junk mail, but I also get great magazines and the occasional letter and package, which makes my day. Last week, my mom (who owns a bakery in Pennsylvania) sent me back a book I mistakenly left behind while home for the holidays, and she had packed in some pepperoni bread and some brownies for extra padding! That kind of love cannot be replaced by technology, and I know you know that.

    You said: “Remember, when we used to mail photos? News clippings? And more? Now all of that can be shared effortlessly, and instantly, via the web.”

    Well, replacing photos and news clippings and such with URLs only works if your intended recipient has a computer or can check e-mail. Some of my family members either don’t have a computer or don’t have an e-mail or both. So I am that person who tears out magazine articles and sends them along. However, it doesn’t even have to be for someone who isn’t computer-savvy. Sometimes I’ll just pop a magazine article into an envelope and send it off to one of my tech-laden colleagues — for the mere fact that people enjoy getting non-business-related or non-junk in the mail. And if I can create some pure old-fashioned joy for a friend, then hey, it’s all worth it.

    My eco-friendly self would like to offer up a tip to your readers for reducing the amount of unwanted catalogs they receive in the mail: http://www.catalogchoice.org/ lets you enter the catalogs that you no longer wish to receive. This has really helped me out, though there are an occasional catalog or two that doesn’t pay attention to the opt-out request. Grrrr …

    Thanks for reading my long reply. And thanks for posting this topic.

    Carla

    P.S. Did you take that photo? It’s wonderful!

  • farwxy

    You make a good point for saving the earth by reducing the need for bills and junk mail (heck, we never needed junk mail anyway). And with the iPads on the rise, we might not need magazine subscriptions if we can get the online versions.

    But for myself, I do think that snail mail has its uses. When I was emailing HR departments trying to get a job, I sent my resume over to a couple of companies via snail mail. And those companies called me back, because there was a higher chance that they looked over my hard copy resume. It makes more of an impact than the e-resumes pouring in from everyone, and I think in a way snail mail is able to capture people’s attention more than the usual emails.

    I love your website by the way. I keep coming back to read more posts.

  • farwxy

    You make a good point for saving the earth by reducing the need for bills and junk mail (heck, we never needed junk mail anyway). And with the iPads on the rise, we might not need magazine subscriptions if we can get the online versions.

    But for myself, I do think that snail mail has its uses. When I was emailing HR departments trying to get a job, I sent my resume over to a couple of companies via snail mail. And those companies called me back, because there was a higher chance that they looked over my hard copy resume. It makes more of an impact than the e-resumes pouring in from everyone, and I think in a way snail mail is able to capture people’s attention more than the usual emails.

    I love your website by the way. I keep coming back to read more posts.

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