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Strollerderby
Ecards, Someecards, Blue Mountain Cards: Tacky or Classy?
It’s Valentine’s Day. Do you know where your greeting cards are?
If you’ve neglected that little project again this year, the Internet has you covered. You can send e-cards! There’s a whole lot to choose from, ranging from the cute, customizable ones at Smilebox to the humorous ones at Someecards.
E-cards have come a long way since the gritty long-stemmed image of a rose I received in a college Valentine a long time ago. You can spice yours up with your own photos, videos and soundtracks. They’re little works of art.
Before you hit send on one though, pause. Is this a sweet gesture? Fun for the family? Or does nothing say “I forgot all about you till the very last minute” like sending an electronic greeting card?
I’m no etiquette expert, so I turned to The Internet for help with this one. According to CBS’s “what would Emily Post do?” digital etiquette guide, e-cards are fine as long as you’re classy about it and use a legit service like Blue Mountain or Hallmark. The Washington Post has a nice round-up of available services.
While an e-card may be fine, I think the audience matters a lot. My kids will be tickled to get an animated e-card from me. My mom, on the other hand, might feel neglected that I didn’t take the time to send a paper card. And while my husband might be amused by the gesture, that had better not be his only Valentine from me (except that we don’t celebrate this holiday, but that’s a whole other post).
I had thought e-cards were hopelessly tacky in 2011, a gesture that just screams “I forgot to send you a card and PS – it’s still 1999, right?”
But doing a little research suggests they can be a classy, cool way to let someone know you’re thinking of them.
Do you send e-cards for Valentine’s Day? Or any holiday? Do you like getting them?
Photo: someecards
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Maggie commented on Feb 15 11 at 8:32 amSometimes e-cards are lovely. Sometimes when I receive one it feels like the sender was thinking of me, personally, even if the message hasn’t been customized for me as an individual.
I do have a large objection to e-cards, however. If you send me a paper card, I have choices about how and when I read it — and I can tell at a glance what I want to do ‘now.’
If it’s a pre-printed 4-line message plus your signature, it’s probably the signature I care about, not the deathless poetry. If you’ve written me a short personal note I may never bother with the printed message — I’m much more interested in what you wrote. If you’ve written on every available bit of whitespace, or included an additional sheet of writing or typescript, I can read it now, or I can wait until later.
But none of that works with the e-cards I’ve received. Most importantly, I can’t tell which parts of the message are ‘pre-printed’ and which parts might have been written personally by you — the typefaces don’t give me a clue. Secondly, I can’t usually look at the ‘whole’ card, especially if there’s animation. Thirdly, there’s sound — intruding into the space where I’m sitting in a way that a silent card does not.
And worst: the sender has decreed the length of time I will spend with this card (unless I choose to turn it off without finishing it, of course) — not me. If you send me a 15-second card, that probably sounds short to you … but in order to receive what you’ve sent me, I have to give it those 15 seconds all at once. If I decide to stop and finish it later, I often have to go back to the beginning.
So if you have to ‘send’ me a seasonal greeting, I don’t prefer e-cards.
I stopped sending paper cards years ago, however. My personal favorite? An e-mail message that’s text or mostly text, that gives me your greetings and says you’re thinking about me. And that I can read on my own time and in my own way.
Sierra Black commented on Feb 15 11 at 2:48 pmI agree so much; that’s a great take on it Maggie. Thinking about how you intrude on someone’s time is a really thoughtful gesture, and an e-card doesn’t take that into account.
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