Postcrossing Blog

"Back of postcards" posts!

A blog post that encourages people to swaps postcards.

I always find "behind the scenes of postcrossing" articles especially interesting.

I love the interviews with other postcrossers.

I like articles on how the postal service works (maybe in different countries).

Interesting, quirky, unique mailboxes -- like the Japan Post mailbox at Asahikawa Zoo with penguins on top:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aya80904/16682174092/

I agree with all of the suggestions above! Another topic I would like to see is 'interesting / unusual / especially beautiful postboxes around the world' ;)

I'd like to read a "behind the scenes" story about how letters and postcard with an insufficient address still reach their addressee. Not as a negative example but to contribute to our admiration for the hardworking people in the postal services!
By the way, have you read Chekhov's heartbreaking short story about the little boy who wrote a letter to his "Grandfather in the village"?

I wish we could track direct swaps on postcrossing also :)

Which informations does an address contain ? p.e. in Russian addresses 'd. 13, kv 4'. There are so many different types of addresses!

Many of the topics above are appealing; I am especially interested in what the information in the address means. Addresses are a means of geocloacation, like coordinates, but many of the addresses that are foreign to me seem to contain information that does not pertain to a street address. An exploration of that in different countries would be quite interesting to all of us I would think.

On the site, it would be so nice to have a chat.It would make it much easier for members to communicate with each other. I'm having trouble following conversations with all those emails that get lost in my email inbox

Photos of mailboxes and post offices from "rare" Postcrossing countries, kids and youth groups doing Postcrossing, Postcrossing challenges, sending/receiving cards in unusual places ( small villages, prison, hospital, on top of mountains, etc)

I second the suggestion above to be able to track direct swaps and other activity on the forums. Giveaways are also great fun. Connecting us with people who may not receive that much mail or have access to the internet - like prisoners and seniors.

It would be interesting to hear stories from mail carriers and their experiences of delivering our postcards. Perhaps there are some unique friendships between sender and carrier that wouldn't have formed if it weren't for Postcrossing.

I like all of the suggestions above and would love more polls. One poll I'd be interested in is: Do you chose to send and receive postcards from Postcrossers in your own country and your reason for this decision.

Another thing I'd love to see would be a list of and links to websites of companies who sell postcards and deliver worldwide. Two companies I'd add to this list are:
[1] https://www.kennys.ie/catalogsearch/result/?q=postcards
[2] https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=postcards&search=Find+book

I am especially interested in what the information about traditional celebrations, about post offices and postman, interesting postal or travel facts about random city, as well as mystical and funny stories about city. And also interesting places, for example, cafes, parks, museums.

- interesting facts
- articles from different people moderated by admin
- tech things that helps in our postcrossing hobby (apps)
- stories of unusual cards received

--I second the "backs of postcards" idea.
--Showcasing regular Postcrossers (by far my favorite posts): Not necessarily someone doing something unusual, ordinary ones too (randomly picked and contacted if interested, or some other interesting criteria (a giveaway, who knows the options are endless). One a month or something. Ask them why they joined, to show a photo of the mailbox they use to send cards, their local post office, something they'd like to share about their location, how they store their cards, etc.
--You could even create some kind of form we could submit with all the interview questions, places to upload photos, etc. Then if a member is interested they submit all the information on the form and Postcrossing can decide which one to feature on the blog each month randomly or look for certain criteria or with each milestone (see below):
--More "countdowns". I know you do the next millionth postcard countdown, but I'd like to see the next millionth American, Russian, etc. postcard too. Also when countries move into the 100,000 range of sent cards (Philippines was last to do it, Bulgaria should be next). Could also be when they reach a certain amount of members (Russia and Taiwan are the only 2 close to 100,000, Germany just hit 50,000, and there's quite a few about to hit 10,000.) Maybe when they reach a certain threshold an interview with a random member from that country could accompany the milestone post. For instance when India hits 10,000 members randomly select a Postcrosser from there and make the 10,000 members from India post feature an interview with someone from there. (Maybe a random person from India that submitted the interview form so you know they are interested.)

--The "what an address means: kv. ul. etc.) would be neat too.
--Polls are fun too. I like the "Do you send within your own country?" and also "Do you ever turn repeated countries on?" These would be good questions for the 'interviews' too.
--I like posts showcasing new postcard box sets or special websites selling postcards.
--As for the prisoners suggestion, I personally see nothing wrong with it. People make mistakes and this is a way for them to gain a better understanding of the world and hopefully make better choices when they are released back into society. I wouldn't necessarily say create a separate option for it, but if they are on here I would ask that they be respected and not banned or something.

More information about the stats pages too. Monthly telling us how many new members actually signed up (yes we can see a pie graph but it doesn't say how many exactly), list any new milestones met by countries or overall, what country sent the most that month, what smaller country sent the most, etc.

What the letters/ numbers in the addresses mean (as mentioned above). Same as with zip codes. Like, why would UK and Commonwealth countries have letters and numbers within the zip codes? Something like that.

I also like the most unusual/ unique postcard you have sent/ received...

What I liked and would like to see more:
stories of postcrossers
little mail carriers to see other countries / towns by locals
explanation of adresses
people telling about their nicest postcards (why?)
postcrossers stories (did people meet / friendship / mariage maybe through postcrossing)
books and movies about postcards of stories about writing letters / postcards (loved the article about Juliet in Verona)

A big thank you to the Postcrossing team for the nice community and the good work! Hope it will continue for years!

I agree with mapa. Postcrossers stories (did people meet / friendship / mariage maybe through postcrossing) are what I like reading in the blog:)
And maybe it's time to refresh statistics: https://www.postcrossing.com/blog/2013/02/26/a-different-ranking---updated

I like the polls most, also what the adresses in some countries meen is a good theme. More interviews with Postcrosser and some more wepsites where you can buy postcards would be great.
Thanks for the fantastic work you do throughout the year for us Postcrossers. Ciao

I enjoyed "spotlights" a lot, I also like polls and all kinds of stories. I use scanning app thanks to postcrossing (not only for postcards).

I see several postcrossers above are curious about Russian addresses, so I'll explain.
d. - д. - дом - dom - house
kv. - кв. - квартира - kvartira - flat
ul. - ул. - улица - ulitsa - street
pr. - пр. - проспект - prospekt - avenue/ big street
pr-d - пр-д - проезд - proyezd - also kind of street
per. - пер. - переулок - pereulok - lane
sh. - ш. - шоссе - shosse - road
g. - г. - город - gorod - city/town
d. may also refer to деревня - derevnya - village
s. - с. - село - selo - village with a church or just big village
p./pos./pgt - п./пос./пгт - посёлок - posyolok - settlement, small town

1) How about a series on Postal Museums around the world.
2) Review of the various sites for on line purchasing of postcards.
3) Where to buy postcards that a number of "Postcrossers" show as preferences such as "Hello Kitty", "Moomin", "Miffy" etc.
4) Articles on what various Postal Authorities are doing to stay relevant and profitable in a changing society.

Would it be possible to present an article on the postcards that have the most favourites? It would be fascinating to see the images. I also enjoy articles featuring individual Postcrossers.

Everything what has to do with post delivery (no matter if packages or letters/postcards) and the service (postcrossing.com itself)...

Let me brainstorm:
post offices, little mail people, postcard collections, logistics systems in different countries, how a post-delivery-guy works, unusual postcrossing cards, "from A to B" (meaning asking the post offfices if you can cover the delivery of a card from door to door internationally with pictures - PT to Malaysia detailed with post-delivery-guys and so on), technical things from developing new things on postcrossing, letter writing things (kinda like the blogposts over on the Letter Writers Alliance you suggest on the "links" page), posts about how a postcard is made, the process of the ISO of finding a new country code if a new country somewhere in the world would develop...

okay, I always have to force stop me while brainstorming...

How about postmark prices?

In the section @Postcrossing Galleries@, you need a button postcard theme or series

These are all great suggestions. I personally would like to know about websites that sell postcards and ship worldwide. Also, a poll about preferences for photo postcards or artist illustrated. I personally had an experience where over 100 postcrossing postcards from Russia were by mistake put in a parcel and sent to me in Texas instead of to the others in the United States. My post office put them back in the mail. I would like to know how many of them finally got to their intended party. I am sure there are other stories like this. Personal interviews of random people would be really nice. It would be so nice to know what the top favorite cards are each moth.

I would love to have an article how these post crossing can bring peace among men and women in this world. I would love to find out, what types of people participate (why). I enjoy demographic information of gender, ages, occupations, countries that are the most active etc.

I'd like more ideas of companies to buy postcards from who ship worldwide.

Also, I'd like to read about people who meet in real life due to becoming pen pals or meeting via Postcrossing.

Thanks for asking. Keep up the great work!

I would love to read something about how postal services around the world work (how the mail is collected, how it is sorted, how it travels to its destination...) and what postal services around the world know about postcrossing.

Regular statistics! There's a vast amount of data with endless possibilities. Which countries are trending up or down in sending activity during the last weeks? Is there a spike of new members somewhere? A new country in postcrossing or one where the last member has been lost? Best sent/members-ratio and why? Where do you find the longest and shortest traveling times? News when ever a country reaches a milestone of members or sent cards. Which country got a million sent cards the fastest? What are the most favourited cards? These topics are the core of postcrossing as a hobby and should be covered regularly, I think. It would be very interesting!

1. I'm curious to know how the top postcrossing countries became so active with so many members? Word of mouth? The media? Are there more Postcrossing Ambassadors on certain countries, and that contributed to it?

2. Are there any "rare" countries that have had a big increase in active members?

3. Do you remember the first postcard you ever sent in your life, through postcrossing or not? What was it? who were you writing to and what about?

I'd like to hear about charity posts and have the ability to post a card to someone who is sick etc. Also a suggestion/query - Is anyone working on a PCx app for phones or tablets? I'd love this.

I like the poll idea "Do you send to your own country? Why?"

I would also like to see articles about people who were actually inspired to VISIT the location on the postcard because of the postcard.

Maybe start a Postcrossing campaign somewhere where there aren't many postcrossers (Tanzania, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Peru, etc.), recruit people, and keep us updated on the project. I liked when one of the Pacific Island nations sent 400 postcards out (I didn't get one, but it was still an awesome idea/event).

I would find it interesting to shed light on discriminatory things and shame. To me it was disturbing that only 2 of my first 6 people on my receiving end were just glad to have mail. One a teenager from a country with lots of poverty, one a new immigrant.

The others asked, even if Postcrossing to it's own accord is not a collector's thing, quite harshly for specific cards and/or specific stamps,
knowing for most people "I am only truely happy, when" is enough to want to please and try their hardest, even if this can mean money shortage for pretty existential stuff.
But I had "don't like at all" to "really hate..." too.

You can't connect a whole world without excluding a huge chunk of people unable to buy a single regular card meeting criteria besides being a rectangular piece of cardboard each time.
Shame comes in, when blunt requests are that common and you are in one ore many ways unable to do it, how little of a deal the recipient might think it is, it might well be.

If this keeps happening, a "How to stand your grounds - for the housebound and/or empoverished postcrosser" blog entry might be helpful too.

Love interviews with Postcrossers! Giveaways are always fun. Behind the scenes at Postcrossing Headquarters would be awesome too!

Another poll or blog topic: "Do you like receiving ad cards? Why?"
Most people don't want advertisement cards, but every now and then people will specifically write that they welcome such cards or even that they like them.

how about an article on how to encourage people to join from areas of the world with few members? That is, mobilize members to promote Postcrossing in new geographic areas--somehow the Postcrossing hive-mind knows how to do this!

I would like to know story about someone who have created high-qulity handmade postcard and his pieces.
It could brings inspiration and creativity to postcrossers.
Of course look around his wall will be interesting.

Ich finde die Umfragen am besten, wo man mit abstimmen kann. SUPER!

other postcrossers life along with their story of post crossing is always fansinating to me. I would like to know more than their profile said.

@MurzelMagMail - one of the fundamental rule of postcrossing is that you take an obligation to send any real postcard and, in turn, cannot make demands of what kind of postcards you would like to receive.

But, of course, the reality is that most profiles contain "shopping lists" which is fine as long as they do not become a combination of grudges and restrictions.

Size, stamps, subject...theme and even colour... And yes, it provokes the feelings of shame, inadequacy and failure before you have even sent a card. And then (sometimes) you might send a good card and the recipient doesn't say "thank you" and deletes your images altogether or uploads a much worse version. I really don't like that.

To the grumpiest postcrossers - I swear - I have a temptation to send one of my worst cards.

I personally would like to know how the algorhythm works - I'm sure for all its randomness there is a coupling effect.

A lot of people are fascinated by numbers of all kinds, so polls will aways be popular.

I would like to learn about peculiarities of others - specifically the little details that irritate postcrossers the most. Things that tend to be unsaid and unvoiced because everyone plays "nice".

My pet peeve - I don't like to see a smile plastered on a profile face when the user has been away for days on end and my card expires. I know it's silly, but at least I'm honest.

It would be nice to learn about OCDs of others - for example, people who have to have all images uploaded (I do :)))

Giveaways of beautiful postcards

There are so many wonderfully interesting ideas presented. We like so many of them! If this is a duplicate suggestion, our apologies - we are interested in how classrooms use Postcrossing and what supplemental activities do they use to learn more about the world. Thank you!

maybe on every postcrossers profile a top 5 of sent card with the most favourites.... (i love to scroll along cards of other postcrossers)

A DIY postcard section!!

Encouriging postcrossers from Russia and China to add their adress in Russian or Chinese writing to have that printed to prevent more postcards getting lost !!

Great ideas. I am interested to know what other active postcrossers think about wasted time, money and effort (not to mention having to wait 60 long days for the thrill of getting to send another card) sending cards to people who seldom, if ever use their accounts. As your website is so smart and sophisticated, I wish it would include a way to weed out inactive members so we can get on with the happy business of postcrossing. Thanks😁

I love the giveaways and the backs of the postcards idea. I also love to read the special spotlights on postcrossers around the world or unusual post offices,etc.

I have many suggestions for blog posts in my mind:
✅ How stamps are made by postal departments?
✅ Interviews with postman/woman
✅ Best postcard set of the month
✅ There are many countries without post offices or postal departments. Some countries have stopped postal services. And there are some without any info (whether postal service is active there or not). If you could post something about them, it would be a interesting read. Examples of countries: Yemen, Eritrea...

Some things that I love to read on this blog:
- interview with users (4 persons per month)
- analysis on different postal fees and their impact on sending.
- stories behind the online small postcards shops like postcardsmarket or paoersisters..

What features I would like to see implemented on the main site:
- possibility to add the photo of the stamp along with the postmark.
- I see you have a database archive of Postcrossing Meet-up. How about adding the images of cards made for those occasions? I can help you with a lot of scanned material.

Please don’t ask for specific sized cards as yours go in albums as some places like my Island makes them bigger and sturdier and that is out of my control and then I find it does not get registered probably because it is wrong size. Never criticise a persons handwriting as I am severely disabled from birth and I do my best and I might not be able to read yours, have you considered that. I still write nice comments on yours though by guesswork on what it might say. Let’s get to know each other better by picking one person from a different country each month and finding out about them as a real person, and not someone who just wrote a few interesting words on a card. Don’t ask for perfume, chocolates etc etc as this is supposed to be a postcard swapping site. Thank you to all the wonderful friends I have made around the world from this site and for all the swapping of stamps for my collection you are stars. 🇬🇬⭐️

Humor! Some people ask for humorous postcards. Are there kinds of humor that are universal, or some that don't translate across cultures at all? Cat Yoga and B. Kliban cats are universal. I have Roz Chast http://rozchast.com/cartoons.shtml postcards just now and I'm not sure whether people in other countries will find them as funny as I do. Perhaps you can help me, and others on Postcrossing?

One more thing. It's better to have Automatic registration of cards send to inactive users. You did not log in for 60 days? Well.. The system will automatically register all the cards traveling to you. And your address will no longer being able to be pulled.

Postcrossing community is one of the most amazing ones in the Internet! So I would love to get to know more about the persons that work everyday in the "backstage" to make this site so enjoyable!
Other thing that I would absolutely love would be too see postcards collections from other members (specially the ones that receive postcards from countries with few participants) and them to talk about Postcrossing!
I don´t know if you''ve made it already, but a article about how to organize your postcards in pratical and artsy way would be amazing!
I love very much to see the Little Mail Carriers, every story is the best. And the different mailboxes is also very funny!
Hurray!

And I do think that is a bit unffair that postcards sent to postcrossers that abandoned the project and that don´t login for a long time don't count as sent postcards! Cause we invest time, money and send the postcards caring about the one that would receive it, and we get nothing in return.

Happy Postcrossing

Downloadable map of all the postcrossing countries, so I can manually track where I have sent cards
Or
A map on my profile that automatically puts an image to show where my postcards we received.
I do see the stats. I would prefer a map.

Information about which postcards are sent most (which images/photos)

A list of average length of time for postcards to travel between specific countries.

Hello to all
a survey of the nicest countries in writing postcards :)
Greetings from Italy

I did little analysis of stats belonging to top 10 members from Pakistan. It involved cards received and sent by them. Results were surprising. There are 183 countries/ territories from where no card is ever sent to top 10 Pakistani members. There are 186 countries/ territories to whom no card is ever sent by a Pakistani member.
Talking about balance of exchange, its also unbalanced with major countries. For instance these members sent 8.61% (Total sent 588 while total received 339) more card as compared to received. In case of China total sent card were 154 while received only 96 cards.
Now on the other side, these members received 247 cards from Finland while sent only 184.
There are many other instance of imbalance.
I suggest in the coming year more work should be done on "Algorithm" to reduce this imbalance.
My suggestion is that members from top ten countries with largest member, there must be a rule to route certain number of postcard inland.
This will free up some space for smaller countries to exchange among themselves and a better distribution balance be seen.

There may also be a monthly contest where members chose the best card of the month by vote. It would make the Postcrossing even more exciting.

I'd like to see members have the chance to post on the blog. Ok, maybe you have to administer that a little bit, but it would be so much more interesting to read, imho :)

A post about members who create their own postcards. More interviews with members.

I would encourage discussing the algorhythm and I would like to stress the word "discuss" more than the word "algorhythm" because I understand that this site is free and there is a lot of work done by its administrators for free and we should not make "demands".

At the same time, maybe specific ideas about how to improve the country distribution will (might) help. Or at least the brainstorming can help. The idea of fairness is universal and randomness seems to "favourite" some more than others.

About humour - humour is universal, but what makes us laugh is not. I would be careful about making assumptions (I speak from experience).

Same with beauty - the idea of beauty is universal - but what exactly we consider beautiful is not. One of the fundamental underlying principle of beauty is exaggeration. Bigger, smaller, taller, shorter, wider, narrower than real. More colourful or less colourful than real - we get more excited about what is different from reality.

And the request for clear handwriting - I think it is a reasonable request because for most people English is not their first language. I personally can figure out most handwritings, but my major difficulty is names - if I don't know the name - "guessing" it feels inappropriate. I would say - print the name to the best of your ability and maybe address the person by name. (but these are my personal preferences).

And about expired cards and inactive members - I really don't have an idea how this problem should be approached. I have seen some "weird" accounts and not necessarily due to a fault of a person who doesn't receive cards. This topic might make an interesting discussion. :)))

May all our cards arrive! Cheers,

I would enjoy knowing where Postcrossing headquarters is located. Also the expired cards are so frustrating and tiresome. Giveaways of postcards would be fun. Maybe volunteers could send in a postcard or 2 to a certain address and a draw could be held every month or more often. Thank you for requesting suggestions! The suggestions are great. Hurray for Postcrossing!

I'd like to know if anybody has traveled to see the place shown in the postcard sent to you.

Maybe a monthly blog asking for suggestions for the main site would be great. I know the forum has this topic, but not all Postcrossers visit the forum frequently or at all.
As for the main site itself, i suggest a "Postcard of the Day" where any random postcard could be shown and receive some love. I find that most cards with many views and favorites are of the top Postcrossers in their respected countries, so it would be nice for some Postcrossers who haven't yet received or sent as many to be spotlighted.

A blog I think would be interesting to read about are those who left Postcrossing but came back. How and why did they come back? Why did they continue? I myself was gone from the project for 8 years until I came back in early 2017, I'd like to hear everyone else's stories. :)

It will be nice to see again articles about the latest issued postcrossing stamps, like it was done for the first ones.

1. Australians look at me blank when I say I am a Postcrosser. The project needs more exposure in Australia.
2. I take notice of the registration numbers on cards. Recently I had 2 cards from Germany and the registration numbers were sequential. I know at the moment Japan and France are close to their 1 000 000th card being sent. Such milestones could be celebrated on the blog.

Something about what drives Postcrossers crazy. Like "see my favorites," receiving postcards that aren't postcards, bossy profiles, nothing written in the profile, etc.

I would love to see articles about unusual postcards and mail as well as what makes certian types such favorites. There are so many people who want Lantern Press postcards or gotochi for instance...why? I would love for you to dive into that topic as to what makes a desireable card.

I would not choose "how you find postcrossing". It's overrated :~)
I just noticed different size and style of normal postmark. I.e. Russia's postmark is big, Germany's is good and clear, Finland often not marked, China has many numbers, USA has writings of states.. etc. Maybe things like this.
Address meaning is great.
Postcrosser highlights is adorable, we can see real life someone who has same hobby :3
Also more poll! :)

I'd like to read about the work of postmen (and postwomen) around the world. There was one super interesting blog on this topic, but I could not find it anymore.

A few more comments in addition to those I have made in an earlier comment.
1.Some members appear to be quite demanding. This appears to relate to cards they don't want despite the rules of the game stress no demands can be made.
2.What do we do about Postcrossers whose accounts are not active and don't do anything about it? I scored a Brazilian Postcrosser recently and she hasn't sent cards nor received them for some time. As Australian postage is getting high I just refused to spend money on card/postage to this person. It's an expired card for me automatically. It's a pity I have to wait 60 days but why send a card to someone who isn't active.
3. I would like to see a weighted ratio for countries with high numbers and an attempt made to send cards using that ratio e.g Russia, Germany.
4.I know we can't tell prople what to write on cards but a rehash of a profile or the words "Happy Postcrossing" are very disappointing
Perhaps some of these issues could be addressed

A few more comments from me too. People ask for cards in envelopes too as cards might get damaged. Well that happens to all of us and it is always the nicest card. It costs twice the postage from here to put a card in an envelope as it doubles the weight. Living on a small Island we cannot get post to the rest of the world so it goes to the UK and so our postage covers that service. They demand it be uploaded before posting well they use a computer to register a card so must have a printer so scan it in themselves. There are too many making demands that the enjoyment is now taken out of it. I am seriously thinking of giving up this month. Too many cards also going to too many people that stop after I have chosen a nice card from their profile list and stamped and sent it. I would still be polite enough to register them even though no longer sending. Why did some join as it seems to me it was just to get as many gifts as they could and the card really was not wanted.....as you get no tourist cards, no this no that, what are you left with then....you get it the Gifts! I am a number crunching person so please make the numbers actually participating correct for each county. Yes they might come back so add them in then but there are less than 10 in Guernsey taking part not 64.

I would love to know if post crossers send out multiple cards at a time or just one.

I'd love to see more blog posts about the Little Mail Carriers. It's interesting to learn about other countries; food, culture, language, regional holidays (like May 17 in Norway), how Christmas is celebrated etc. And see museums, landscape, cities etc that could be interesting to visit!

I would like to read more about stationery designers and other postcrossers.

Also... I would be happy if I no longer have to send Postcards to people who haven't been online for a month or more, since most of these cards expire anyway.

After skimming the comments, I want to support Hasip's idea. It would be great to have a look at what difference it makes to send postcards wtih or without the local script, mostly for China and Russia as these are the biggest postcrossing countries that don't use the Latin alphabet. Maybe first encourgage members to actually track their cards (and of course note what kind of address they had) so that you can accumulate data, and then, if necessary, encourage (or even enforce) members adding their original address.

I'd love to see more about the smaller countries, who the postcrossers are and how they learned about postcrossing. I am also really curious if there is a way to encourage those who began postcrossing to become active again after a long hiatus. So many times if I am searching for someone I get discouraged by the number of "postcrossers" who began this wonderful pursuit but no longer are active.

I like many of the ideas here. What about a call to action for a service project where we could try to make an impact on a community undergoing difficulty with a "shower" of encouraging postcards? Maybe it's a community that has had a natural disaster or the like? I know there was one about a school group collecting (was it stamps) related to the Holocaust education (If I recall properly).

I love it especially when you share challenges and projects we can participate in and interact with!

I don't think we can or should be against a language, especially if it is an International language - a lingua franca so to speak (which is no longer French by the way).

Maybe a challenge of translation and learning can be more fun than a struggle. Maybe the distinction between a Russian and Russian is less important for those who are not Russian at all.

Sometimes "bad" English is almost adorable - at one point my English was too bad to be true and yet I could always communicate. Besides, communication is not about language, it's about getting your message across and most people manage quite fine. And there is always Google Translate - my long-time friend.

As a person with OCD (I admit and I laugh about it) - I want to point out the spelling mistakes and grammatical mistakes (especially in profiles) and have a temptation "to help", but I restrain myself from such "helping". I slipped a couple of times, but I use that experience as a lesson to be more tolerant and understanding.

Everything can be translated. But I find it amusing that I can understand what a Russian speaking person wanted to say by unraveling the translation - which actually does not mean what the person intended it to mean. But don't we all have this challenge?

Whose language is without fault? Whose writing is free from spelling, grammatical and structural mistakes? Certainly not mine. I choose to find it adorable. :)))

P.S. Во "мне не нравится" - нет мягкого знака. Но мы понимаем, что Вы хотели сказать и это самое главное. И поэтому английский намного проще выучить, чем русский.

I would love to read stories from people who work for different postal service in the world. I want to know how mail moves from point A to B to C and where mail goes when it's delayed for many weeks. I want to know the processes involved in regards to processing mail anywhere!

I've seen a couple of people on the forum that work for postal services, so maybe you could try rounding up Postcrossers who also work for postal services and interview them?

A lot of the comments above are interesting. I would be interested in knowing people's hobbies. I also like if people give an effort to write pretty enough for me to read it.

I read "Poll results: Rate your country's postal service", I learned that 74% of Japanese postcrossers think their post office is doing an excellent job.
I would like to know Japan Post mail service job and how postcards reach their receivers after arraival from abroad.

Postcrossers have many different types of avatars. I would like to know the story behind some of them. Perhaps you could look for ones (other than the standard selfie) and interview that Postcrosser about the reasons for choosing the avatar on the profile. Blog posts about Little Mail Carriers are my favorite, followed by interviews.

I like all of the ideas listed above, but have some others of my own.
I always enjoy the blog posts about individual Postcrossers, but I think that it would be interesting to also have occasional posts based on subjects that Postcrossers request. For instance, you could do a post about members who request cat cards. I'm thinking that the post could have maybe 4 or 5 cat card fans picked at random all over the world and all of them could talk about their preference.

Or you could have posts featuring a few Postcrossers classified by other ways than card preference. Such as a post about Mothers who like Postcrossing. (This would be great close to a Mother's Day. I remember reading on Wikipedia that different countries celebrate Mother's Day on different days. Not everyone celebrates Mother's Day in May like the United States does.)

Another possibility would be featuring popular postcards and asking those who favorited a certain card exactly what they liked about it. We all have different preferences and it's always interesting to find out what others like. If the card is available for purchase on the Internet, it would be good to know where to go to buy it (like Amazon.com or wherever else it is sold.)

How can we get low membership countries or lands that have 0-10 members to have over 100 active members and grow from there?

Should there be a project to contact each embassy of poor or restrictive nations to get more involved?

Can philatelic organizations be informed globally?

Any ideas?

There could be a writing campaign to encourage the postmaster General or head of a postal service in low membership countries to get postal employees, their families or colleges involved actively in postcrossing.

writing campaign, or articles from the community

How do people get chosen to participate in a poll? I have never been chosen.

I would enjoy an article about a poll that asked:
Which country has the most courteous postcrossers?
or, Which country has the kindest postcrossers?

Maxicards!

What goes on in the postcrossing office:)

Definition of words.
I don't know what these are:
- view card
- ad card
- art card

Ginnijay, a viewcards is a card of a landscape or cityscape of some kind. an ad card is an advertisement card. Businesses typically have these and give them away for free. Most Postcrossers don't like them because they aren't like your typical postcard that (you could get a card of a garage door opener business rather than a pretty landscape). An art card simply has art on it. It could be a local artists work on a postcard or a reproduction of a Monet painting.

I love the poll results :).

loads and loads of great suggestions! I would love to know which sites people recommend when you are considering getting your own postcards made.

I would also love to see something about children that enjoy postcrossing, I have two active daughters and they love the whole process (picking cards and stamps, receiving cards) Maybe a blog aimed at primary school children.
(and for postcrossers that don't like messy handwriting just remember that sometimes it is a small child that wrote your card, maybe not perfectly but with just as much love)

More little mail carreir strories please.

So many great suggestions...one I didn't see was regarding those of us who really would like to make direct swaps but answer "No" on our profile (perhaps due to a sad experience such as responding very enthusiastically to a swap from someone by sending a wonderful card, but not getting one in return). I have had to specify that those wanting swaps should send the first card...I find out quickly how serious one wants to participate. And I agree with several responders that it would be helpful to sift out inactive members from time to time. Thank you to all of those responsible for creating and maintaining the Postcrossing site. (A grateful Postcrossing supporter)

Interesting new stamps being issued around the world that Postcrossers are using. Maybe a stamp of the week post on your blog with a picture and brief description of the stamp?

A focus on home-made postcard designs or DIY creative ideas for displaying postcards would be cool!

I'd like to see more statistics, particularly on expired cards. About 3% of my sent postcards have expired. Is this typical? How does it vary among post-crossers? How does it vary from country to country?

mgwhiterice I really like your idea: an article about DIY creative ideas for displaying postcards !

What I have read on other people's profiles - 3% is typical. I have sent only 99 (+10 traveling) cards and exactly 3 have expired.

One is clearly due to bad luck, another is clearly due to the disappearance of the recipient (he did not respond to my message either, so - still giving him the benefit of the doubt, I will not make assumptions about ill will or negligence because in the end - what does it matter?)

and the last (technically speaking my first) - I blame on the fact that I wrote her address in Russian and by hand (whereas others probably printed it in English), so sometimes writing an address in Russian can be a disadvantage. Or maybe just bad luck again.

But statistically - 3% seems to be the number.

However, what I don't know yet is what is the percentage of the expired cards that reach the recipient within a year. So, the term "expired" is rather ambiguous.

I'm curious about those statistics as well.

I would like to have a place to put your received stamps, stickers, leaflets and so on to your site, just like received postcards.

Everyone – – please remember this question is about what topics you would like to read about on the blog. It is not a question about how postcrossing's website should change. Many great topics sugested already--so, let's see your comments about blog topics only, thank you.

I like reading about other Postcrossers, and of the adventures of Little Mail Carriers, as well as Postcrossing meetups, postcard artists, postmen/-women... those are my favourite topics. Postal history is also interesting.

I like the comments by MurzelMagMail and Tranchile. This is important.

I read the blog post and the comments with interest. As an experienced blogger (7 years & going strong with one general blog and one books/reading related blog) I'd be happy to offer guest blog posts on some of the topics suggested. First one that springs to mind is: the scarcity of Third World Bloggers? I live in a Third World country so am qualified to comment. despatchesfromtimbuktu.wordpress.com and thebooksmithblog.wordpress.com .

It has been posted already: statistics. Maybe on a monthly basis? There are so many interesting numbers out there, like cards registered per day varying through the year, ups and downs in various countries, maybe a shift of more cards sent here, less cards sent there, a sudden surge of new members, ...
Also an article about statistical outliers could be interesting: are some countries connected postcardwise to others in a specific way - like xx sending overproportianlly to xy ... is there a different share of male vs female users in different countries ...

Ahhh statistics ... so many aspects possivle ;-)

Stories of meet_ups and stories from postcrossing's headquarter might be interesting too. And portraits of members. And ...

Ahhhh postcrossing ... so many things to love

Ps: I also do miss the little mail carriers. Are they lost somewhere?

Great suggestions. I would love to hear about the synchronicity that happens as a result of the so-called random address assignments. I'm fairly new here so maybe the profiles are somehow matched. In my short time post crossing, I've experienced amazing results. Thanks for this wonderful way to connect with the world.

Infographics of statistics, especially from smaller countries. Stamps from the back of postcards. Themed posts with postcards from different countries on a particular topic like Little Free Library or Cats or eclipses. How senders are paired up with addresses. How many postcards are travelling at a particular time to and from select locations like Nuremberg and Tianjin. Postcard design contest. Antique postal scales. Postcrossers who use typewriters or braille.

I love seeing art and projects by Postcrossing members! I was so inspired by the premise of "Postcard Stories" that I have my own copy now = )

I think accounts could be put in stand by if persons don't send postcards for a long time, lets say 6 month or 1 year.
Is it possible to create a prize for persons who send most favorited cards every month?, for example,
the possibility to send an extra card. This will encourage people to send good cards, I think. Thank you.

I would like a continuation of the 'behind-the-scenes' series.

@kallini2042 - I don't know how the system in Canada works, but starting mid-November (when I started feeling confident in writing in cursive Cyrillic, because I started learning Russian since last July), I started writing Russian addresses in Cyrillic, except for the country name "RUSSIA" or even to addresses in Belarus. I posted from the UK and those postcards went through within 30 days, whether they are on Postcrossing or other swap groups :)

Could we have a blog entry where we ask several of the most prolific postcrossers to nominate someone for things like most amazing message, neatest handwriting, best doodle, most thoughtfully picked postcard image/stamps... I admit I would find it hard to narrow some categories down to just one postcrosser for each category with under 500 postcards! But I would find it interesting to read about!

Giveaways would be nice!

Show off some of the beautiful handmade cards some members make--the "no handmade cards, please!" prejudice makes me sad.

I love to see stories about the journey of a postcard, for example a post office who tells all the different steps of the journey, the plane the card gets transported on etc.

I like Juytters ideas!. I also really like meetup pictures and write ups.

@wanamirul0706 - I also write Russian addresses in Russian, but it was that particular case. It did not occur to me that it could have been Canada Post fault, which it could, but I consider Canada Post reliable, so I ruled it out.

Since I don't know the real story of "What happened?", I made assumptions. 8 known cards were drawn on the same date and seven arrived = 5 from the US and 2 from Germany (randomness at its best! What I love about randomness is that it often looks like it has a pattern or two - as an example - more than 50% of her cards come from the US). :)))

So, I did make an assumption that the members from the US and Germany either printed the address or wrote it in English. Every Russian can read an address written in Latin letters and sorting machines go by numbers - postal codes that are called "an index".

But truth be told - if we don't know the real story of our lost cards, we do make assumptions. May all your cards arrive!

Speaking of patterns: my cards go like this: Ru, Cz, Ru and another card to Czechia is about to expire. Why? Who knows?

I'd love to see an analysis comparing the ratio between population x total number of users x number of active users and the relationship between the quality of postal services and the postage prices vs. economic power of the respective currency. Or as 2 separate topics:

1. Ratio between population x total number of users x number of active users

2. Quality of postal services x postage prices x purchasing power of a currency

Why? I would like to see if there are any correlations. For instance, my country is small but the number of Postcrossers is rather high in comparison to larger countries (larger in the sense of population while still comparable on socio-economic level) so I wonder where this is coming from. I'd like to see more analyses to understand why some countries are into postcrossing a lot while others not so much... even though at first glance there is no reason for it :)

It was interesting to read the postal services satisfaction poll a while back (including comments from postcrossers which helped shed more light onto the results) and I would love to see more things like that :) For instance, after reading the comments from my Italian counterparts (and their low rating of IT postal services) I have grown to appreciate the job that CZ post is doing although it is way more expensive than in Germany where the "purchasing power" is higher (and so CZ prices are even more exaggerated :) But I have my own explanation for that which is the heritage of communism and low-paid jobs in state sector... (hence difficult to attract best "brains").

I love Postcrossing, it is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time! :)

Thank you!

One more topic: I would like to read posts about "behind the scenes". How everything works, where the headquarters are, how one can become a super-moderator or admin or even get a job at Postcrossing ;), a more detailed history how Postcrossing evolved, your aspirations and goals (especially what is planned - e.g. mobile version?), specific issues and learnings etc. I do realize that much of that may be considered confidential but if there is anything more you can share it would be really cool to read it. Also, if these topics have been shared - maybe there can be some throwback posts to inform new members...
For instance, I have always wondered how can it be that a super wonderful moderator Jetske is always responsive. Does she ever get any sleep? She is always around and as soon as there is a hick-up she'll intervene. It is amazing. Also, I was wondering how did it happen that the site has spread without any marketing...?! Wow. It is just so amazing I'd like to get more details. I think that the Postcrossing team has much to say to businesses all around the world (they could learn from you). Thanks for reading! :)

Sorry, one more thing: I'd love to have an option to submit ideas for development/improvement. Also, I'd love to see a poll on "paid Postcrossing" meaning - what would happen if everybody paid 10 USD per year. Would people leave it? It would give you guys the means to develop the site to the better. I'd love to see what other people think.

More and more ideas are coming to my head. This site has so much potential. It can be the new "Facebook"! The opposite of Facebook to be exact! I have learned about your site absolutely randomly from my colleague (who to my knowledge has sent only 1 postcard so far). What if people like me (who are willing to postcross a lot) knew about you? I do realize this does not "fall" into this topic but wanted to share it anyway. My last post I promise!

I love the idea of a random 'Postcard Of The Day' as suggested by @snowapple above where that postcard can tell its owns story of the who, what, where and when.

In addition to that, an article about stamps would be great since postcards and stamps do go together. The article could be about the different types of stamps we use on the cards we mail (e.g commemorative, definitive) and it could also cover topics like covers, first day covers, mint stamps etc,. I am not a stamp collector but get many requests for them and the first time someone asked me if I could send a cover, I was totally clueless!

Analytics, stats, data!

So many interesting ideas, admins will have to work hard to sort them out!
Most popular card -I'm afraid often it's about rare country, not about beautiful card.
I like the idea about self made cards -as I make them, too:)) Most unusual in my collection is a knitted card from Germany.
Expired cards mostly are in China, where young students quickly loose interest -so there really must be some checking of inactive members. There are several more countries with very bad post -service, but sometimes cards turn up after several months -there could be a special topic of these long travels!

Several more ideas -
possibility not only to comment but also to show stamps, stickers etc. of received card -often there is so much love and thought !
Stories about Postcrossers friendships and visits

The little Mail carriers, I hope they carrie on. I love to read it.
The youngest and the oldest postcrosser.
By showing the card also the posebillity to show a nice drawing, or something else what made you happy at te back of the card. A beautiful postmark ect.
A project to send post to lonely or sick people.
Happy Postcrossing

I'd like to see more discussion and volunteers to promote Postcrossing in under-represented countries. I'd like to see more diversity of countries in our forum, and I'm sure we could all help to advance this by reaching out to contacts and friends in places with few or no Postcrossers.

i would like to have a look upon the startups of postal services in different countries.
also a kind of difficult terrain where they are reaching.

I really like the blogs about other postcrossers. Especially about creative ones or ones with special wishes like cards made of cornflakes boxes and so on.

Would like sections on
- hand colored cards from a purchased image. Have seen coloring postcards for Mary Engelbriet types of images that can be colored
- homemade postcards. This would be different from when people use their own photograph.
-decorated cards when people put stickers, washi tape etc on a purchased card

many great ideas! I think it has been going great till now! I love to see more blogs about postcrossers. That way we also see what cards could be appreciated, what mailbox is used; so it seems to cover up more items written above. I think postcrossing is most about people and also mentioned above is which people met, have marrried or whatever. I am not interested in stamps and mailboxes myself, neither geography, but for the ones that are interested this could all be done in the personal-postcrosser of the week/month, maybe randomchosen. I guess in the forums there is a lot to find about buying postcards and swapping, so maybe that does not belong in the blogs. I believe stats can be found somewhere as well, so just funny news about new stamps or actions and the postcrossers themselves would be enough for me. By the way; Thanks for the work on the blog!

Dear Postcrossing Team, please, don't make Postcrossing paid, I think thousands of members will leave. From my country, Cuba, for sure, will leave exactly ALL the members, even if the tax will be 1 dollar per year, there is not way to pay. Thank you.

would love a DIY section and a story of some postcrossers that make their own cards.

Encourage everyone to use the forum more for swaps and building up a nice postcard collection

I like the postcrossing related posts about new stamps, postcard collections, postcard projects. I think I like all your posts. Is there the possibility for a poll about stamp prices? Perhaps converted in one currency for better comparableness. I just learnt recently that a postcard from Australia costs 1,95€ (converted) - I will never complain about the 0,90€ from Germany for a postcard again.

I would like learn about some of the most remote postcrossers. How did they hear of Postcrossing,etc.

I would love to read new adventures of the Little Mail Carriers. They cover interesting facts about foreign counties, cities, museums, meet-ups, daily life of other postcrossers etc. Just the perfect mix for me.

Stories from people who have sent postcards since the beginning of Postcrossing. What have they seen change? Postage costs? Design of postcards? Countries involved?

Monthly posts about stats.

I've enjoyed reading past posts about the Little Mail Carriers and interviews with postcrossers

@Azalee09 - Canadian postage is 1.88 Euro, but I've just come across info posted by a user from Denmark

"2018: postcard international from Denmark 27 DKK (3,6 € - 4,3 $) - from Germany 0,9 €)"

No wonder, Denmark doesn't send too many postcards.

I think it would be nice to highlight those postcrossers who go to great lengths and find a card that fits the recipients profile perfectly. I have received some amazing cards over the years. Perhaps there could be a special tick-box.

Topic suggestions for the Blog:
*I have heard that there's to be a 14% increase in Russian International Postage. This increase could mean that fewer Russian Postcrossers can afford to participate in Postcrossing in the future. How would this affect the Postcrossing community, the statistics etc.?
*A blog poll about what another Postcrosser suggested: ideas on how to improve Postcrossing and sort out some issues already mentioned in many of the comments (Inactive members etc.).
*I support the idea of following the journey of a card from Sender to the Receiving end. Does a card travel by boat or plane? Does it really make any difference to pay a bit extra for "Priority Mail" these days than "Economy". How do the Post offices separate and sort these? The working and sorting methods in Post Offices / sorting locations in different places (New York, Moscow, London) would make really interesting reading. How come some of the cards sent to Russia arrive in 14 days while others take up to 40 days and longer ...
*A blog about RESPECTING a fellow Postcrosser. So what if some of us have so called Wishlists? Having a card travel for thousands of miles seems like such a waste ecologically speaking if the card you are sending or receiving won't appeal to you at all... and ends up in the bin! We are all different and are in to this project for different reasons and no Postcrossing rules will ever change that fact :o)

Good luck & Keep up the good work!

'spotlights' are a joy to read! what astonishing stories these Posters have.
the 'little mail carriers' are well travelled but I would never tire of their exploits.

Things I would like to know more about: back of postcards (sometimes people draw or write with super cute skills), authors of postcard design and shops where we can buy nice postcards, ideas for handmade postcards and ideas about what to do with the postcards we get. thanks

Postcards from Latvia to EU -0.64 € others -0,71 € -we should be really happy!

Postcards in libraries. (We're biased.) Did you know the Dewey Decimal Number for books about illustrated postcards is 741.683?

I would also like a blog post about how individuals and institutions can promote both postcards and Postcrossing. We didn't know until our mail carrier told us that we (in the United States) can request a cancellation stamp for a special event and USPS will set up a kiosk to sell postage, postal items, and stamp cards. That would be great to do here!

1) I love to read about why the addresses are the way they are in any country.
2) more about the adventures of the little mail carrier.
3) more about mail boxes
4) listings of books about postcards.
I am so happy to be part of this group. Thank you for postcrossing.

I would be interested in the many ways Postcrossers display or organize or store their received postcards. Thank you. Proud Postcrosser!

I agree with Jen_n_Cats : I would love to see a blog article about the interesting and beautiful handmade cards some members make--the "no handmade cards, please!" prejudice makes me sad, too. Plus, I love the postcards that are made from special photos that people have taken of their countryor other articles.

And, as always, I like the spotlights about individual Postcrossing members.

I'd like to see some statistics ––– like, for example, what percentage of the population of a particular country is involved in Postcrossings? And has that changed over time ––– have there been sudden flares of interest, over the years, in some places?

I also agree with BestemorVonnie; I'd like to hear (and see) what people have done to display and enjoy their postcards.

More about mail art projects! :) By the way.. a couple of mail art projects in Italy..

- https://www.facebook.com/events/901484383310207/

- https://www.facebook.com/events/271948196633940/

More about projects, Marina's scarf was so beautiful, I wish more people would do things like that, it was so cool, don't you think?

I would like to see blog articles about where to buy postcards and postage stamps (real stamps as well as machine-printed ones), and where or how to mail postcards when traveling in foreign countries, especially now that Postcrossing has travel mode. It would also be nice to know how much it costs to send a postcard from the specific country.

For example, I was unable to find a post office when I visited Trinidad last year. The nice lady at the lodge where I stayed mailed the postcards for me after I left to return home, but I would prefer not to have to rely upon strangers to make a trip to the post office for me.

While in Panama last month, I had a difficult time finding postcards and finally found some when I visited a museum at the Panama Canal. However, I once again had to rely on the kindness of a nice lady at the lodge where I stayed to mail the postcards. However, in looking at the postage on the postcard that I sent to my niece, it looks like she charged me an extra fee to mail them.

I've tried looking at the websites for the postal services in various countries, but that hasn't been very helpful.

I would be willing to write an article about this topic for the United States with input from other U.S. Postcrossers who might like to contribute.

I would love to be able track and upload direct swaps as well!!

One very important improvement to Postrcossing i wish to see in 2018 is "an mobile based app" to manage postcrossing through mobile. Where sending & registering card, sending receiving message, going through forums ... al done through a mobile app.

Looking at the annual stats. Would love to hear from those top 20 people about how they keep their messages unique each time they send a card. Where do they buy that quantity of cards. How do they store or display the cards. And what is the cost of postage in their country.

I hope this can still be read.... but I have always wondered if postcrossers mind where the post offices put their cancellation stamp/ received stamp/ etc? Like, if the rubber stamp was made on the front of the card, do you get irritated/ mad? Or do you see this as just one mark of travel that the card took?

I would like to know more about who of the postcrossers just signed out in
"What is happening now".

I think that we can make a blog in which it will be necessary to make a postcard

How about different ways people are showing postcrossing to the world.

Yes! More polls, and lots of stats! Maybe something on the best/favorite registering responses?
Also a blog on explanations of terms for newbies. There was one on maxi cards, but others would help too. When you’re just starting, and reading profiles that say “please no ad, free, or multiview”, it would be nice for some clarification. 😀

In the U.S. there is a postal museum. I haven't been there, but I'd be interested in an article about that place and if there are postal museums in other countries.
I like facts about the mail & stories about unique mail situations.
Aside from museums, are there other tributes to postcards? I.e. in Las Vegas, the America restaurant at NYNY has a whole postcard theme with wall paper of sayings on postcards and images of the 'greetings from' all over the ceiling. I've also seen murals.
I'd like the back stories from other postcrossers about how they connect to postcards. Or a story about a particular postcard that was meaningful.
I'd like contests in which I would win postcards from all over. :) I had a patient who was a band teacher and had received 300 birthday cards on his last birthday.
Not really a blog post, but an enhancement: If there was a way to register our birthday and then perhaps when people had landmark birthdays, anyone who wanted to send a birthday card could. Participation would be voluntary.
I have done two Kickstarter campaigns with postcard themes (both are over now). both of them are related to my work in hospice. One was postcard I think other people might have interesting uses for postcards.

LOL it would be nice to have a way to edit your own comments if you accidentally hit enter mid sentence.

Older postcrossers have stories about research of family. It`s goodness to remembering other members of relatives and tell funny persons and
other things about it. Retro photos to postcard and so on. So everybody get own research more alive. I have lot of fun to research my grandfather as immigrant in Minnesota, Virginia. I am from Finland.

I would love to see the most liked postcard(s) of the month/year :)

I suggest a creative brainstorming open poll (it's really an exercise from the official and legitimate course on creativity) - after having selected and agreeing on a particular narrowed enough topic

(by voting similar to Oceans, Sunsets or Cats when Sunsets won, but in our case Statistics or Museums or the Most Favourite Cards - whatever the majority prefers - or a scarf made out of postcards :))))

(I actually predict that Statistics will win)

Topic should be specific enough in order to avoid the challenge of "boiling the ocean" )***

make each next post begin with "yes, and..." (regardless of how stupid, inane, unrealistic the previous idea may sound)

First of all, it's always fun

and what's more important

this always leads to creating something new and unexpected.

And if you want to tell me that my (this idea) is stupid/inane/insane... you can tell me, only start with "yes, and"

What do post crossers do with their received post cards and the stamps on them. Do you save them, toss them away after you look at them, just save the special ones, use them for an art project? i am interested in how you display your cards or use them in a unique way.