Pen pal programs endure in a digital age | Hacker News Reader

Pen pal programs endure in a digital age

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91 pointspetethomas21 comments

The pen-pal phenomenon flourished in a time when letters were exceedingly cheap to send, even internationally. People in the Eastern Bloc seized on such programs for international contacts because sending letters was very accessible even to them.

Fast forward to today, and the cost of sending an ordinary paper letter in my country is now 3€. Lots of people would be reluctant to pay that time and time again, and forget about juggling a large number of pen-pals as people commonly did back in the day.

Wow! That's expensive. In the US it's certainly quite a bit higher than it was when I was a kid, but right now stamps cost $0.78 per. I think that's going up a few cents later this year. Just looked it up; in the 90s when I was a teenager, it was between $0.25 and $0.32, so it's grown faster than inflation, but still feels manageable.

Those are USPS domestic stamp prices, an international stamp is currently $1.70.

While a domestic pen pal probably isn't uncommon, the programs I recall tended to match you with someone international.

Still cheaper than a cup of coffee just about anywhere in the U.S.

Ah, that's true. In the US I think it was a lot more common for penpals to be domestic, given the size of the country (IIRC all of mine as a child were in the US). In Europe it makes more sense that penpals would often be in a different country.

Still, is $1.70 (or even the 3 euros mentioned above) really that much to pay every week or two in order to maintain a meaningful friendship? An espresso drink costs more than that in many places.

Of course, email is free, so I could understand someone preferring to have a penpal relationship that way.

And add the cost of the envelope, it's still less than the cost of a candy bar. I send handwritten letters to a couple of friends every few months.

I'm not sure that's universal. I just checked and in my country it's still less than 1 euro, and less than 2 for international. Considering the natural delay in letters reaching people, that's not really a significant cost at all.

The difference between 2 euros and 3 is pretty insignificant. But 2-3 euros for a piece of paper feels big and makes text messages feel like a good deal since they're basically free.

But if letters are just a few cents to send, more people are willing to try it because it's the cost of pocket change that won't even get them a drink from a vending machine.

It makes sense that it flourished when sending letters was cheap, plus it was a very common thing for adults to send letters, so why not add one for fun.

But I don't think a high cost of sending a letter is much of a hindrance if you pay it for social contacts. If you look at having a pen pal as a socializing event, then it's hard to beat how much it costs to go to a bar, concert or sports game etc.

I met my wife in Slowly. I can't reccomend it enough for a Pen pal experience.

i'd not heard of Slowly; googled, etc.

how sort of perversely lovely (i say it in an admiring manner), to meet in a gloriously old-fashioned manner on such a modern platform!

love it.

I've made many good, long-term friends through penpal sites, including my wife as well!

What a neat idea. It's basically email, but it knows where you are and where your pen-pal is, and doesn't deliver the email until the appropriate snail-mail time between those locations passes? Brilliant.

Slowly lets you meet pen pals from your smartphone! Match with someone that shares your passions, write a letter, and collect stamps from around the world. Speak your mind—one letter at a time!

Letters take time to be delivered

The farther away your pen pal lives, the longer it will take to reach them. Why rush through replies? Make your letter be worth the wait!

https://slowly.app/

Interesting concept, and I’m glad the magic was there for the two of you.

Words and ideas are meaningful. Finding a physical artifact from a far off place in the mailbox; seeing the stamps, markings, smudges, and other evidence of its journey; opening the envelope; and reading the other’s handwritten words add another dimension. Similarly, holding a paper book is a different experience, so I suspect that more than nostalgia is at work.

I used to have 34 penfriends when I was in high school. I got all these pen pals from organisation called "International Youth Service (IYS)" based in Turku, Finland. Eventually I lost touch with my penfriends when I moved due to education, jobs etc.

My very first penfriend was Betty Marie Jensen from a small place called Nibe, Denmark. I tried to find her on the internet, sent a letter to her old address. No luck. All I know is her name, old address and birthdate. I have her photos, but I don't want to publish them on the internet for her privacy. Is there any government agency besides postal service who can forward my letter to her?

Recently, I tried to revive this hobby. Unfortunately, IYS is closed now. I found a few good penpals on GlobalPenfriends.com Also tried several other websites like Interpals, Penpal World etc. but they are full of scammers.

I remember having a pen pal from Ukraine around the year 2000 (7th-9th grade - can't remember when anymore). It was fun, but really only lasted the single school year. We were told to exchange email addresses and not physical addresses, but she didn't have an email (or didn't actually want to continue lol). Either way it was cute for a couple of 12-14 year olds from across the globe to discuss the differences in our lives.

I can give a recommendation for /r/fountainpenpals, if you're into fountain pens. And if not, check out/r/fountainpens or the fountainpennetwork forum and get into it, it's fun and doesn't have to be expensive :)

Are there no posted birthday cards in Denmark any more?

There are. Its not true what the article states. The national postal operator changed from Postnord to DAO. Letters can still be send and received. Both companies were and are super bad at fulfilling their task though.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dansk_Avis_Omdeling

There's also a subreddit for international pen friends for adults. It jives with their fountain pen subreddit pretty well.

Postcrossing still pretty much alive ans thriving

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