Twitter vs. Traditional Media for Holidays

As I write my Christ­mas and New Year cards, I’ve been think­ing about the pros and cons of tra­di­tional cards ver­sus Twit­ter for hol­i­day greet­ings. For­give the wry humor…

Twitter Pros

• No paper cuts
• No yucky after­taste from seal­ing envelopes
• No last-minute dash to the Post Office to buy more stamps
• No cold rain down your neck while run­ning to the street to leave out­go­ing mail in the postal box
• No wor­ries about out-of-date addresses
• No wor­ries about address­ing cards to cou­ples who are no longer liv­ing together
• No wor­ries about send­ing reli­giously inap­pro­pri­ate cards to peo­ple of a dif­fer­ent faith
• No need to pay for postage stamps – at 44¢ each, the postage cost mounts up
• No need to shop for hol­i­day cards that won’t embar­rass you with their tacky sen­ti­men­tal­ity
• No need to plan ahead so your cards will arrive on time 
  

Twitter Cons

• Few of my fam­ily mem­bers or per­sonal friends actively use Twit­ter – so no way to reach them
• Text only, no pic­tures
• No oppor­tu­nity to dis­play this year’s cards as part of your hol­i­day décor
• No oppor­tu­nity for pets to super­vise your progress

But the best advan­tage for Twit­ter of all – no need to com­pose the annual “brag­ging rights” let­ter, sum­ma­riz­ing Suzie and Joey’s amaz­ing accom­plish­ments at sum­mer camp or on the soc­cer field.