Eager for more statistics? Here we go, for part 2 of the census analysis! There’s actually only a couple of things left we’d like to go over in this post, so let’s dive straight into it.
First up, let’s talk about blog content — what are postcrossers’ favorite topics to read about here?
This was a multiple choice question, and of the people who replied, most like to read about postal history and interesting postal facts… which is great, because so do we! 😊 Statistics and friendship stories are also popular, with the rest of the choices being a little more evenly distributed. There’s definitely something for everyone! This blog is actually a part of the website we’re rather proud of, as there has been an average of one post per week here for the last 14 years, if you can believe it! Looking back at the long archive of posts is really gratifying.
Moving on to the big questions… what do people like or dislike the most about Postcrossing? Let’s look at the things that annoy us all first:
Keep in mind that this was a multiple answer question, so people could pick up to 3 replies or write a different one. This was an open question in the previous census, so the answers were a bit all over the place… 😅 We tried to condense the main replies we saw, so we could get a better idea of their distribution.
Clearly, expired or lost postcards are a big source of frustration with this hobby, as no one likes to send a postcard that ends up not being acknowledged. Over the years, the Postcrossing system has been improved to include several automated rules and triggers focused on reducing this issue, including setting accounts to inactive, sending reminders, and blocking or closing accounts. Because of these automations, the percentage of postcards that goes unregistered has been steadily decreasing over the years (*), and we’ll continue to do our best to further minimize it. We know that this percentage will never be zero, but we still have a few different ideas that we’re planning to test throughout the year that will hopefully further lower these numbers.
Other annoying things include the lack of geographical diversity, demanding profiles and the fact that the website isn’t very mobile-friendly yet… all things we’ve been addressing and tweaking in different ways, and which continue to be on the top of on our long to-do list. Beyond these big ones, some postcrossers also remarked on empty registration messages, postcards with short messages, empty profiles or those written in languages other than English, or receiving too many postcards at once, among other issues. We think these are fair grievances, and having a clear ranking of their “annoyingness level” helps us prioritize how we tackle them.
And, last but not least, what do people like best about Postcrossing?
We purposely didn’t include sending and receiving postcards as an option, as we assume everyone likes those parts (and there was a separate question about that). Beside those, contacting with people all over the world seems to be the #1 thing members like about Postcrossing, but its a tight margin separating that answer from others like the surprise and randomness, learning about other countries and cultures, or being able to make others happy. Less people highlight being part of a community or the creative aspect of the hobby, which we definitely understand, as those are not for everyone.
And that’s a wrap on this year’s census analysis! We haven’t yet finished going through all the feedback on the last question of the census, in which we asked you to give us ideas of things to improve or just share your thoughts about Postcrossing — the number of comments is a bit overwhelming, in a very nice way. 😊 A big thank you to all of you who took the time to fill out the census, for your kind words and for the many ideas of things to improve and think about!
(*) There are two notable hiccups in the expiration rates lowering trend over the years, which we monitor closely as we know these are important to Postcrossing. Mid-2017, Russian Post had an issue that caused lots of mail to be stuck somewhere for a few months, causing the postcards to expire before being delivered later in the year. Also, in the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, when flights started being cancelled and there were no alternative routes in place, a lot of mail got stuck for a long time. Both these incidents have been resolved (through improvements to the mail service, and with the help of the Postal Monitor), and the overall trend continues to slope downwards, towards a lower expiration rate.
42 comments so far
Very interesting information. I'm happy that progress is being made in reducing the number of "vacant" accounts.
Thank you!
Would you please put exact numbers above/next to the columns/bars? Thanks in advance!
Love statistics almost as much as Postcrossing. I see Postcrossing as a community, a large group of people who love postcards and want to bring a little happiness into a strangers life...long may that continue. Thank you to all of you who bring this joy to us.
I think i stopped using postcrossing in 2015, then started again in 2021, glad my account didn't get deleted lmao
I would be "greiving" if postcrossing ended, im still grateful for reading about it in Flow magazine many years ago.
Postcrossing has got to be one of the greatest projects ever! I personally like the book reviews best on the blog, but the statistics are pretty cool for a geek like me as well.
I like every single one of the things listed above under the things people love about postcrossing!
After a long hard day at work, nothing cheers me up as much as seeing a Postcrossing postcard in my mailbox! And I really love it when something I have sent through Postcrossing makes it to its destination!
Appreciate the survey & the data reporting!
Amazing to be part of such a wonderful community! Appreciate all you do to make it effortless for the user.
Blessings
d
Yey! Lovely write up and very interesting too. I see that I belong to the "most"? --- since I agree with the top choices. :-) Thank you, PC admin for everything: setting this wonderful community and still free for all, keeping us in the loop of what's happening, and making sure that (most of) everything is in order! Bravo!!!
Thank you for the useful information! I'm new to postcrossing and I like this hobby. Now I have a better idea of what you need to write on a postcard to make it more interesting.
Thank you for correlating all the info for us and for everything else you do. I’m able to do Postcrossing easily on my phone. In fact I rarely do it on the computer. I’ve received some fantastic postcards over the years. And magnificent stamps. I love it and am addicted. Many, many thanks.
I'd like to see more diversity in the countries I receive cards from but I'm not sure what Postcrossing can do about that. Some lack of diversity surprises me. Israel is the only Middle Eastern country I've ever gotten a card from. Monaco has only 6 postcrossers but Luxemburg has over 300. There are other oddities but I'd like to mention something else.
Extensive lists of preferred postcard subjects is quite off-putting. That's my personal opinion and I know that there some others who disagree with me but also others have agreed with my comment to that effect in my profile. It looks like about 1/3 of respondents do have a concern about demanding profiles.
I would love to know what are the top Postcrossing countries - the number of participants per capita.
Thanks for collecting and disseminating this data, it adds context to the hobby which is most appreciated. In your next census it would be good to ask some questions about meetups. What percentage of postcrossers participate in either face-to-face or virtual meetups? That is additional data I'd be interested in hearing about.
Thank you Postcrossing team for these insights, and sharing what you’ve been working on and have lined up for us all! Appreciate the thought that goes into keeping this platform going and relevant to more people. This means a lot to many fans of cards, handwritten/handmade cards, stamps or simply just carrying a human touch across the lands.
Good information. Thanks.
Thank you for the compiled and summarize write up.
I do hope the expire cards rate reduces.
It's really nice to get connected with people around the world .
This is my 2 nd year . I am happily enjoying and spreading msg about postcrossing too.
love seeing these results! Thank you!
A great deal of work to complete and so interesting to read the results. Thank you to all concerned at Crystal Mountain HQ.
Chris
I definitely dislike receiving more postcards than I've sent and ending up in what I call "postcard debt". It forces me to send more postcards that I might not be up to doing at the moment to even out the sent/received scale.
Thank you - as always it was soo interesting to read these statistics! Great work!
Stats are so nice to read. These makes me understand this hobby even more even it very simple in the end!
Chirp2lou, the information you are lookin for is in 'Explore' page:
https://www.postcrossing.com/stats/users
https://www.postcrossing.com/explore/countries
Thank you for everything you do to keep the Postcrossing wheels spinning smoothly and happily!
Reading your articles is an excellent pleasure with so many new vocabularies I can learn.
Regarding "no APP/site not very mobile friendly", I don't mind at all, I think the site is wonderful as it is, a model to follow.
Haven't had a mobile phone for almost 2 years now, so can do without the APP too ;-)
Thanks for the Cencus, I like it
This is great! Thanks for sharing all these results.
The Census is great and interesting. Nice to see how we think alike in some questions….no matter how many miles apart we are
Thanks for results…. I think there are more expired cards now , than they were at the start of the pandemic though…
Just wanted to note that I love that you posted part 2 on Tuesday's 2's Day!
Great work!
Thanks for sharing all these results!
Well, Happy Postcrossing and
... stay safe because hard times are here :(
This is a scary time! Let's pray for peace in the world let's pray for Ukraine!
Yes, thank you for all the work to get the results.
Love being part of the postcrossing family and make somebody happy with a card, ditto.
Stay safe everybody!
So nice how you contanstaly care and improve the system. Huge thank you for that, we see these differences.
Nice interesting statistics 👍
Thank you for all the hard and caring work that you do for our wonderful community of happy Postcrossers!
Thanks for the interesting survey results. I'm not surprised that "expired" cards are on top of the list of problems. On the other hand it's gratifying that about 97% of my sent postcards are received and registered. It's always a lovely surprise when I get a notice that a postcard has been received and registered after, say, 123 days. But it is true that about 3% of my postcards have disappeared down a "black hole". My guess is that very few are actually "lost in the mail" or destroyed on their trip overseas. Most I think reach the intended recipient or someone else, like a neighbor of the intended person. On several occasions I've received a postcard meant for someone in another state, and twice people in states far away from me (Arizona and Kentucky), forwarded Postcrossing cards to me. My conclusion: Postcrossing is a "genius" of a hobby and amounts to "soft diplomacy".
Thank you for putting together the census and sharing the results with us. A very interesting read!
Really interesting, and it’s such a great service you offer
Thanks so much Postcrossing administrators, for all your hard work so we can be part of this amazing project. Postcrossers, thank you for putting a smile on my face every time I open my mailbox, and fine a little treasure; you are awesome!
Regarding the expiration of cards, I am wondering what will be happening with cards to Russia in the following days/months. If cancellations of flights due to the pandemic was a problem for cards to reach their destination, the new sanctions from countries all over the world regarding entering air space will definitely be a problem in this regard. On a side note, I think Postcrossing needs to stop giving out Russian addresses immediately until Putin stops this horrible war!
Following on the comment by StephSD (with whom I agree) I also think we should temporarily stop giving out Ukraine addresses as so many people are no longer there, having left for Poland or other neighbouring countries, or are hiding out in bomb shelters. I'm sure the mail delivery will be interrupted there for a variety of reasons.
Yes, I'm still here!
We are still here!
So glad to be a member of this big community.
With every postcard my optimistic approach is that the mails will get through. Please do not shut the Postcrossing door to any country. Allow this pleasure of involvement with our postcrossing world continue whatever is happening 'on the ground.' There will be need of it.
Thank you all for the analysis of the census.
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