Another Reason to Love the Internet: PostCrossing Follow-Up

Just a quick post to comment that it is very easy to get connected to a like-minded postcard lover in Lithuania (through Postcrossing.com) while lounging in bed at my home in Chicago. But buying a stamp and mailing a postcard to her from Todos Santos, Baja Sur, Mexico involved driving down some really bumpy and dusty roads to track down a poorly marked building where I climbed the stairs and asked the guy sitting all alone in an office, “Se vende estampillos?” And then buying a stamp for 13 pesos (he didn’t seem too sure where Lithuania was, but I think he understood Europe). And then watching him put the stamped postcard in his desk drawer. Good luck, little postcard! I may have to mail a second one from Chicago just to make sure that she receives something from me!

Clicking, Connecting, and Crisscrossing

One experience I love, which is now ubiquitous but still perhaps somewhat taken for granted and unexamined, is the experience of finding something new through a series of haphazard clicks and connections. You know what I mean… It all started today when I finally got back to reading my Twitter feed again. Something to do with comps prep/work got me signing up to follow a bunch of new people and then fairly quickly dropping out altogether, as I could no longer take in new info for a while. I’m still in resting mode, but took a peek this morning.

At the bottom of the first set of tweets, a post from gsiemens caught my attention: “Prepare to feel old: http://bit.ly/7uHXrP.” Maybe it seemed like it might be funny and not require my brains to work. At any rate, I CLICKED THE LINK, and was taken to a blog post about outdated technology terms and phrases. Not really learning for me—more like reinforcing my experience. Somewhat amusing to an old-timer like me, who frequently finds herself explaining “historic” terms like carbon copy or floppy disk in an effort to shed light on the impact of current technology on education, and on our culture in general. Really, how do you get across the magic of Web 2.0 to those whose introduction to the Internet was through Facebook? “Yeah, so we can post. That’s what you do on the web--what’s the big deal?” But I digress…

I read through the “Prepare to Feel Old” post and the comments, and then scrolled back up and CLICKED THE LINK to the blog post that had prompted this blog post. I read through that post, titled Ten Common Phrases That Could Soon Be History, and was reading through the comments there also when I came across a reply about the listing of “pen pal” as an outdated term. The poster, Douglas Armendone, referenced www.postcrossing.com, an updated pen-pal-type site.

So I CLICKED THE LINK, and began reviewing and learning about the site. At Postcrossing, you register and agree to send one or more postcards to other randomly chosen participants. Once those participants have received and registered your postcards, you are in line to receive postcards from other participants. The site looks to be well organized and thought out, with a comprehensive FAQ and a straightforward process for participating. Launched in July of 2005, the site has quickly grown in popularity. By September of 2009, three million postcards had been registered as received.

This site, in its beautiful simplicity, supports my love of postcards, travel, and helping the world shrink by connecting with unknown others. In addition, it is sure to be a hit with my teacher-students and their own students in K12. So, of course, I CLICKED THE LINK to register and request an address for sending my first postcard through the site. Though you can send postcards right from where you live, I will be traveling in a few days and will be able to send a few from elsewhere also. The site also connects to your Twitter and Facebook accounts, so your activity there is shared with your networks.