What I found about myself is, that when I first started postcrossing it was all about variety. I wanted to send to and receive from as many countries as I could. It was just what I expeted from what I read on the website.
I wanted to engage in private swaps and I had arranged lovely swaps but when it came to swapping with people form countries that are not so common on Postcrossing I always got the answer, that the person already had so many cards from Germany and was not interested in swapping. That felt a bit weird for me.
As time went by I learned that most people on postcrossing are from Germany, Russia and now USA. When i started in 2013 I sent way more cards to Finland or The Netherlands than the USA. So common countries change during the years I guess. So of course you send more cards to those countries as there are a lot more people waiting for a card.
So not long after I started Postcrossing I realized that I am sending postcards to people, not to countries and it is the thought of people that count. Also many postcards I receive from Germany or Russa are so lovely decorated and so many words are written on them with lovely messages that this means a lot more to me than receiving a card from a ârare countryâ that just has Happy Postcrossing on it.
For over a year now I am sending exclusively to repeated countries for that reason. Every now and then I get a not so common country to send to but 95% of my sent cards are going to Germany, Rusisa and the USA. So what? These people sent cards and deserve a card back.
I find that I receive with a wider variety - most cards I receive are from Germany, Russia and the US (and I receive lovely cards from this countries) but also other countries as well. In the 7 days of this new year I have received from 15 countries. I call this variety.
If then I receive a card with a 3 or 4 digit or even a 5 digit ID I am a lot more happy about this uncommon surprise which is way better than expeting this and not receiving one and being disappointed aobut it
So long story short: This still is a wonderful hobby. We send to people and try to make them happy with what we chose for them. With time verietey is not avoidable so be patient and appreciate each new country you get
Right now most of my cards I send are to Germany and I love Germany. Even though my family had roots in Germany I really never knew the diversity in the country. So I really love my new German friends. Iâm learning so much.
@Antjelino - I have loved the cards received from Germany officially and through the tags. And I also love sending to Germany. Each profile is different.
I have selected that I donât mind repeated countries or my own country - I think this helps balance things out for the benefit of the project.
So, US is not so common now for me. It takes a lot of time for my postcards to arrive to US, often they expire because Ukrainian post uses sea mail to deliver there. And maybe this is the reason why I donât draw US addresses often and the algorythm is not so random, thereâre many factors to consider
The goal of the Postcrossing project is to enable anyone to exchange postcards with random people around the world. Thatâs using real mail, not email!
You can learn about far away places, different cultures or even practice foreign languages. Postcrossing turns your mailbox into a box full of surprises!
So, Postcrossing is about connecting, not collecting.
But we all still have instincts of hunting and collecting in us⌠So itâs no wonder that these instincts get triggered by Postcrossing. I guess nearly every Postcrosser develops collection wishes. Me too. I joined for the connection with other people, for the surprises in my mailbox. And then I discovered the variety of postcards and began collecting certain topics.
So for me itâs about people and topics, no matter from where the cards are coming. I have sent nearly 2.900 cards and recieved 2.840 cards, to / from 77 countries. The number of countries didnât go up significantly in the last year, although I sent 1.200 cards in 2020.
I love this hobby, it really is my favorite pastime since four years. I put my heart into each card that I send. It honestly makes me sad to read the recurrent complaints about âmissing varietyâ, and not wanting so send to Germany or receiving a German card.
Reducing variety is a dangerous trend and not intervening to it is a form of reprehensible sloth administration with regard to postcrossingâs inclusiveness and prospect. Those who feel okay with sending and receiving to only a handful of countries/regions may only care about their own pleasure; itâs fine at an individual level but rather pathetic when standing as a counter-argument for doing nothing at a community level.
You and I live in a country that doesnât suffer from too many corona related mail suspensions (even when there are political based restrictions PostNL finds a creative solution, like transporting mail to Belarus by truck).
Not all postcrossers are so fortunate.
Personally I think each and every time a postcard arrives, at my house or somewhere else in the world, is a small miracle, especially in these times of corona.
I think the variety is amazingly large, given all the hurdles !
(And no, to me writing or receiving a card to/from Germany is no different then sending/receiving to/from any other country - to be honest: I rather like it that a card to Germany doesnât travel for ages.)
A worldwide project needs the highest calibre and sense of diversity among its management team. Articulating an individual satisfaction with mail exchanges between users from two Germanic countries is fine by the relevant individuals but no way constructive to sustain a global project.
Itâs a global project that focuses on connection between individuals, not collecting cards from every country in the world (there are sites and forum topics where you can choose who you trade with). Maybe, instead of looking at it as âmail exchanges between users from two Germanic countriesâ, we should focus on it being a mail exchange between different individuals who agreed to share a bit of their world with a total stranger. Iâd say itâs rather opposite than what you claim - those who feel the need to draw different country any time they draw an address only care about their own pleasure, disregarding the fact that every person who sent a card should get a card in return. Since the number of postcrossers is constantly increasing, the project is obviously constructive and sustainable as it is.
this topic makes me sad. also iâm sure we already had this discussion about 84 times the last year. i donât think people realise sending and receiving cards is a luxury not everyone can afford. i believe the reason (well, one of) postcrossing in germany is so popular is that stamps are pretty cheap. and of course, once there are already a lot of people doing postcrossing in one country, more people will learn about it and also join.
in a lot of countries people donât have the money to send out cards or they have more important things to worry about, like keeping their families safe.
that said. i have checked repeated countries for as long as i can remember and my sent list has more than 3 countries on it. also, i donât feel like the usa is that much part of âthe big 3â but that might just be me. these are my stats of 2021.
my received list is too big to screenshot which honestly i actually care more about. iâd rather receive a card from a rare country than send to one, so iâm quite happy with how things are.
The only way to keep this equally global (I donât know better expression), is to only allow the same amount active members from each country and/or only let the same amount of sent cards be travelling from each country. Or would there be a better solution?
(The only worry for me getting same country address is, if something happens to the mail travelling there, like at one point all mail to USA seemed to take forever, and lately the mail to Russia stopped arriving (but now these too arrived). )
The thing is though, the management team isnât choosing who participates. The algorithm canât pull addresses that donât exist in the system! So if people are getting tons of German addresses, then itâs because there are plenty of users in Germany who are owed cards, thatâs all.
Iâve seen many times in the forum where people suggest options to exclude countries or re-draw addresses, and itâs always decided that that would be unfair and lead to discrimination. I agree!
This is exactly it - some countries donât have inexpensive, reliable international postal service. Or itâs the cost of the cards themselves that is prohibitive. Or priorities, politics, internet usage habits⌠any number of reasons.
Itâs not on the Postcrossing team to manage or mitigate any of that, and I think that suggesting it is runs the risk of being a bad-faith argument.
I applaud your commitment to diversity, but I donât see it as a diversity or exclusion problem.
The reply questioned some PC usersâ sentiment in relation to sending and receiving cards, which is not the same topic of this thread, namely questioning the algorithm per se. Algorithm does not equal to the entirety of the project; the project is constructive because of its spirit, not algorithm; questioning it is always justifiable as it plays a de facto restrictive role in assigning addresses. Should âshare a bit of their world with a total strangerâ is premised on only a handful of destinations? One may feel comfortable but not necessarily everyone.
Itâs up to the management team to give certain solutions and itâs upon regular users to react to the current one. If we have the authority to modify it, then there may be no open opinion sharing, but an internal and technical meeting.
About variety, I think an easy solution is that, German users be forced to click on the option of sending/receiving cards from Germany.
However, this is not fair in another aspect, since all users should be able to decide whether to click this option by themselves.
Another noticing affair is that some countries are raising the international postage. Spanish users may reduce sending cards because each card to Russia and USA cost âŹ2.1, which is quite expensive. Under this situation, I think the variety in Postcrossing will keep dropping.
However, variety may not be the topic in this tread.
Some users find that newbies (sent cards < 50) may get more variety than other users (sent cards ~ hundreds) in getting address.
Algorithm with some preference can also be regarded as random.
I think it is a good chance for admins to clarify whether the algorithm has preference to newbies. This may stop users guessing with subject opinion but without object facts, and increase the openness in this project. @meiadeleite
does that really help though? if person a sends a card from germany to person b in germany, then i now have to send a card to person b instead of person a, but still to germany.
unless you just want germany to send within germany like their own little bubble and leave out the rest of the world.
I need to point out that, by checking that option, only a part of postcards will travel inside Germany, but not all of the cards.
Therefore, your saying âleave out the rest of the worldâ does not make sense.
Please just do a simple imagination.
If all the German users do not check that option, then users from other counties will get more address from Germany, or less?
I donât see the need for solutions because I donât really see the problem. I primarily joined the topic because I was curious about the algorithm and how other people are experiencing it, without thinking it would turn into yet another topic about complaining. Inclusiveness means including everyone, wherever they may be, which is also why I donât see how anything would be âpremised on only a handful of destinationsâ. I donât see postcrossers as âdestinationsâ, but human beings. Everyone is welcome to join and the best that algorithm can do is ensure they all get a card for every card they send. Algorithm is working well within the idea of the project, which is written in FAQ posted above. If algorithm wasnât sustainable, neither would this great spirit and community be. Imagine restricting users from certain countries or limiting number of cards they can send just because of where they live - I wouldnât want to be a part of any project that discriminates on that basis, even though it doesnât affect me personally.
I guess nearly every Postcrosser develops collection wishes. Me too. 
I joined for the connection with other people, for the surprises in my mailbox. And then I discovered the variety of postcards and began collecting certain topics.
