Postal mail and e-mail
I am currently writing a literature review on how various communication modalities are used in interpersonal contexts. One modality I am (not surprisingly) finding little material on is postal mail. In particular, I am looking for sources that either (a) address changes in postal mail use with the advent of e-mail or (b) qualitative comparisons of the use of postal mail and e-mail within interpersonal relationships. In particular, I have heard anecdotal reports of e-mail being more "convenient" but postal mail being "special" in a way that e-mail is not, though I have not found scholarly material that documents this perception. Does anyone know of scholarly articles that address these issues? Thanks, Andrew ---------------- Andrew M. Ledbetter Ph.D. student, University of Kansas
Dear Michael - I think someone in this group built up some theory on what postal mail meant to the Victorians (British). Uh this is the only ref I can find to Victorians: Standage, T. (1998). The Victorian Internet : the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century's on-line pioneers. New York, Walker and Co. But from the Royal Mail you could pull it up to the 21st C. America. Maybe there's a fun history out there on Hallmark cards???? Cheers, Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html
I've just finished reading The Victorian Internet and recommend it to this list. There are some important lessons in it, though nothing in the way of mass comm theory except that anecdotes will reinforce what you already know, and very little specifically regarding snail mail. The book is mostly an historical account of the technical evolution of telegraphy but aptly named as it reveals a great many social parallels between the use of the telegraph network and the internet. For instance, telegraphers were chatting online a century before AOL was thought of, even to the point of romance and virtual marriage cerimonies. Having studied the differences between British and American online news organizations I was particularly interested to learn that the philosophical roots of these differences extend all the way back to the telegraph: "The greatest difference between the telegraph systems of Europe and America is that [in Europe], the telegraph is used principally for social correspondence, here by businessmen for business purposes". (p.169) Don Holeman -----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Denise N. Rall Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2005 9:26 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] Postal mail and e-mail Dear Michael - I think someone in this group built up some theory on what postal mail meant to the Victorians (British). Uh this is the only ref I can find to Victorians: Standage, T. (1998). The Victorian Internet : the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century's on-line pioneers. New York, Walker and Co. But from the Royal Mail you could pull it up to the 21st C. America. Maybe there's a fun history out there on Hallmark cards???? Cheers, Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Ok, As an afterthought it occurred to me that to look at the telegraph v. postal mail in Victorian times might map in some interesting ways to the internet v. postal mail in the 21st century. Because the real possibility of multi-modality of communication strategies were then available (for possibly the first time) during Victorian whereas . . . now it's text, phone, email, chat etc. While it is well off your topic, I have heard anecdotally that parents are having good luck with their teenagers through text vs. other communicative devices. I can see we certainly got Michael going here! Cheers, Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html
In addition to what others have suggested, I'd also recommend the work of my UIC colleague Richard John, particularly his book Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse. While it doesn't directly address the "email vs. postal mail" matter, it is a remarkably insightful history of the U.S. postal service from the perspective of a media historian, and I think it can provide much material for you concerning the evolution of postal mail, its use and attitudes toward it. His cv with an extensive list of publications is online at http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/Faculty/john.html Sj On Aug 5, 2005, at 12:10 PM, Ledbetter, Andrew Michael wrote:
I am currently writing a literature review on how various communication modalities are used in interpersonal contexts. One modality I am (not surprisingly) finding little material on is postal mail. In particular, I am looking for sources that either (a) address changes in postal mail use with the advent of e-mail or (b) qualitative comparisons of the use of postal mail and e-mail within interpersonal relationships. In particular, I have heard anecdotal reports of e-mail being more "convenient" but postal mail being "special" in a way that e-mail is not, though I have not found scholarly material that documents this perception.
Does anyone know of scholarly articles that address these issues?
Thanks, Andrew
---------------- Andrew M. Ledbetter Ph.D. student, University of Kansas _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
It's been a while since this particular request, and it's not scholarly, but some might be interested in this NYT article: Techno Files: Why the Internet Isn't the Death of the Post Office http://nytimes.com/2005/09/04/technology/04techno.html On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 12:10:55 -0500 "Ledbetter, Andrew Michael" <aledbett@ku.edu> wrote:
I am currently writing a literature review on how various communication modalities are used in interpersonal contexts. One modality I am (not surprisingly) finding little material on is postal mail. In particular, I am looking for sources that either (a) address changes in postal mail use with the advent of e-mail or (b) qualitative comparisons of the use of postal mail and e-mail within interpersonal relationships. In particular, I have heard anecdotal reports of e-mail being more "convenient" but postal mail being "special" in a way that e-mail is not, though I have not found scholarly material that documents this perception.
Does anyone know of scholarly articles that address these issues?
Thanks, Andrew
---------------- Andrew M. Ledbetter Ph.D. student, University of Kansas
---- Lauren Squires Linguistics Program University of Virginia *** http://polyglotconspiracy.net
participants (5)
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Cox -
Denise N. Rall -
Lauren Squires -
Ledbetter, Andrew Michael -
Steve Jones