AIBU to think that the annual Christmas Card tradition is dying out?

[EverySongbirdSays]

I'm 35 and it feels like Christmas Cards are becoming a thing of the past

More and more now people will just status update on Christmas day

"Merry Christmas to all etc"

Buying, writing and posting 50+ Christmas Cards just seems like so mus effort and a waste of paper and money.

There was I think in the past a lot of nostalgia value around cards relatives or friends you mightnt have seen in years, and you were pondering to yourself 'I wonder how Louise is? Gosh those were the days in uni, I'll send a card at Christmas and she'll know I still think of her"

Only with Facebook culture I don't need to ponder how Louise is, I know she's teaching in Herts and has a baby.

I had a brief chat yesterday with an old friend I haven't seen in over a decade who lives in London as she had just been to see a film. There isn't that sense of urgency to send a card just to keep in touch.

Of course I'll hand out a couple of cards to my immediate/closest friends and family, and a few coworkers, but I'll probably d less than 10. Not loads as I might've done with people I don't really see if not for the invention of Facebook.

It does seem a shame that it's a dying tradition but I'm not too bothered as it does feel quite wasteful in some ways.

AIBU?

[Mindtrope]

I enjoy sending and receiving cards. Although I agree it's dying out.

Yes it's a waste of trees and ink, but then so are lots of things when we have a celebration. I love decorating and getting a tree.

[LiviaDrusillaAugusta]

Although one of my relatives tends to put one of those wanky round robin letters in his cards so that's vaguely entertaining for a couple of minutes.

[ForalltheSaints]

I think it is not dead yet, though the long letter about children's activities and travelling seems to show no signs of ending.

[Gooseysgirl]

We still do it in our house but I have modified to massively cut down on cost! We write about 50, only post cards to elderly relatives that don't live nearby, all others are hand delivered. Personal messages and a few photos of the kids to the elderly aunties and uncles who we know really love receiving them. We either make cards or buy them in charity shops in the January sales. I love the tradition and won't be stopping it anytime soon. But I do think making a donation to charity in lieu of cards is a great idea however I can live without the annual boastful/sanctimonious generalised FB Ann

[Gooseysgirl]

Whoops posted too soon!!! Can live without the annual FB post of the huge charity donation DH's friend makes instead - don't see the need to make a big song and dance about it..

[Tliev]

I hope it is dying out! I hate the hassle of it and feel guilty throwing them away after Christmas so end up with them all squashed into a drawer for years!

[honeyroar]

I still send and receive about 60 cards. I enjoy it, it's one of the few bits of Xmas I like! And it's less of a waste of trees than Xmas trees are!

I have a few friends that anounce on FB that they won't be doing cards, which is fine, but no need for smug statements about charity donations!

[LunaLoveg00d]

I don't do Christmas cards any more. Partly because the cost of stamps is ridiculous, partly because it's wasteful to buy something which gets chucked straight in the bin on January 2nd.

Instead we make a donation equivalent to what we would have spent on cards to charity.

[ZoeTurtle]

Oh I really hope it is dying out. So wasteful, environmentally unfriendly, and expensive.

[allegretto]

I don't think it's wasteful compared to a lot of the crap people buy at Christmas and if you're throwing them out on January 2nd Christmas isn't even over yet! You may as well say sending birthday cards or wrapping presents is wasteful.

[ElsaAintAsColdAsMe]

I haven't sent a Christmas card since 1998 and don't intend to start. I give money to a couple of charities instead.

[DinosaursRoar]

I send about 25/30, not counting that DS gives them to all his classmates. DH have lived in a couple of other countries before we got married and I've lived in 3 cities, so while we can keep in touch via facebook, there's something lovely about a special post for these friends.

I usually pin ribbons to the top of the doors inside the house then staple the cards we receive to them (nicest ones at eye level...) to keep the mantlepiece clear.

[JustHappy3]

Do about 50-60 and post about 40 of those. Get about the same back.
They're all from managed forests and there are also designers, printers, logistics companies, shop staff, post offices and the PO benefitting. I don't see that as a bad thing.
I give to charity too - so allow myself to indulge!

[fishandlilacs]

Yes and I am thankful for it. Such a wasteful money-spinner

[heron98]

I'm 35 and haven't sent Christmas cards since I was at school.

(also I throw any I receive in the bin, I just don't see the point of them).

Scrooge

[SpringerS]

I don't like cards that much due to waste. But I did send some last year to close family as 3yo DS and I made them as a craft project on a couple of December mornings. We did the same at Easter this year and I'm assuming we'll continue doing so for the next few years at least.

[ImAMoving]

I love Christmas cards, send around 60, only get around 20 back but I love sending them, especially to older relatives.
Don't mind it not getting them back, except one SIL who sends everyone else one and makes a point of not giving us one. Been 4 years and every year she tells my DB it's at their house/they left it.

[TheHighPriestessOfTinsel]

i really like sending and receiving cards, particularly to those I don't see, don't often see from one year to the next.

Cards to all and sundry in the office do my nut a bit though. But not as much as the Facebook posts implying that you're a better person as you're giving to charity instead. Some of us quietly manage to do both.

[SarahAnderson]

I hate Christmas cards (and birthday etc.). They look ugly and are just clutter in the house. But it's considered rude to stick them straight in the bin where they belong when they arrive. Most people don't even write a proper message, just To and From - what's the point?

[ClashCityRocker]

My DMIL used to be a Christmas card fiend - she sent about 100, including to people she'd met on holiday 30 years ago! Always with a handwritten note telling them the family news and asking after them. She used to get a lot back mind, so maybe it is a generational thing.

I get one for my nana and one for my husband and one for my dad who lives away. We probably receive no more than half a dozen back. I do think it's sort of a shame, but not enough of a shame to make me want to actually send any

As you say, we are much more in touch with people in general nowadays. For DMIL, the Christmas card and letter is probably the only contact they have with them.

The Chosen Few of my circle will get a personal text (! If there is such a thing!) on Christmas Eve.

[TheNaze73]

I thought it had died out years ago. In these days of social media, they seem a very outdated notion a bit like postcards from holiday.

[SarahAnderson]

Oh, and I very much see this as a feminist issue. It is virtually entirely women who do this particular ritual. Not a problem if you enjoy it but many of us (me) feel like we are being rude if we don't send a card back but have zero desire to do so. My husband feels no such obligation. Hence I HATE receiving them. It is basically just giving me a job to do.

[228agreenend]

It's the cost of stamps that is causing it to die out.