Social network sites pushing postcards to extinction

3 percent of the people in Britain make the effort; majority prefer to text or Tweet a picture.

Written by: Agencies

2 min readLondonJun 9, 2012 10:13 AM IST First published on: Jun 9, 2012 at 10:13 AM IST

The days of sending and receiving the holiday postcard are numbered due to the rise of texts and social networking sites in the UK.

Today,only 3 percent of the people in Britain make the effort,instead preferring to text or even Tweet a picture.

It has been dumped in favour of mobile phones,laptops and tablets,which allow families and friends to update each other in seconds through calls,texts and social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Research by market analysts Mintel found that in 1972,27 percent of Britains population sent a postcard home compared with just 3 percent today.

Younger Britons may never have experienced the joy of receiving a postcard in the age of social media and many others may have forgotten the sensory experience a writing set gives the sender, the Daily Mail quoted Alexandra Richmond,Mintel lifestyle expert,as saying.

Were travelling more and were also more connected than ever before.

Its easier to tweet a picture,update our Facebook status or send a text,enabling real-time holiday updates rather than waiting a few weeks for a postcard, she added.