Empty hurray messages are not that bad to me - I’ve gotten only one so far and it didn’t bother me that much. Maybe there were language issues.
I’m more annoyed by copy-paste messages by users who definitely don’t have any language issues. And I’ve already received 3 of those. The reasons might be exactly the same as the ones that lead to an empty hurray message, but somehow it feels worse to me when I get a fragrantly copy-paste message. The outcome is the same though: in both situations, I have no idea whether the receiver liked the postcard and the message, as there is zero feedback to what I sent and wrote to them. Frustating? Yes. But definitely not the worst thing that can happen in Postcrossing.
@anon33318409 this sounds like a fun tag topic (I wonder how many could translate a card if I wrote in Apache?)…I sometimes see profiles that invite senders to write in another language such as French etc so that’s an option for some
My first few postcards I didn’t write any hurray messages. It took me by surprise when it popped up as an option. I remember thinking, “What am I supposed to say?!”
I waited for what felt like an eternity for my first few sent cards to arrive. As I received a few hurray messages, I remember thinking, “Whew, I’m so glad they actually got there!” and realized I really should say something!
I think it just takes a while to learn the culture of Postcrossing.
Brilliant idea. I’d love to get a card in Apache. Even if I couldn’t translate it, it would be fun to just see what the language looks like and if I could guess any words
I think they are saying that there are many topics which most people avoid when meeting a stranger: politics, religion, conflicts etc. Unless someone asks for these sensitive topics these cards are best left unsent until requested.
And there is no requirement to post a hurray message. Rules only require it be registered. I seriously do not understand people’s obsession with that hurray thing.
I suspect it’s partly expectations on politeness and acknowledgement. If you give a gift in many cultures, it’s customary for the recipient to say thank you and to express their appreciation for how much work the person who is giving the gift has put into it. It’s true that these niceties are not required for Postcrossing (and politeness on the internet, in general, is a problematic thing), but it’s hard for some people to put aside these expectations when it’s something that they’ve grown up with and lived with their whole lives. I am not personally offended if someone doesn’t send me a hurray message, but I’m aware that others would be hurt by it so I always write one to others.
It is a matter of politeness, for the sender looked for a card and maybe a stamp that you may like, wrote some text that might interest you and took tje card to a mailbox or a post office.
I think not everyone sees the received postcard as a gift. If they see it as a part of a contract that they signed up for, then maybe some people don’t feel the need to say anything because you are just fulfilling your part?
And some people have mentioned that they didn’t know they could send a message to the sender so that is another option why you could get an empty hurray message without the sender being intentionally rude.
That was what I was trying to explain. The original poster asked why people were obsessed with hurrays. Generally people who are obsessed with hurrays are the people who sent the postcards and they are expecting hurrays back. So my thought was that they believed they were sending gifts so in return they were entitled thank yous. The disconnect would be the recipient who didn’t think it was a gift.
However, now that you mention that perhaps some people see this as transactional rather than as a gift–I would still argue that this cultural. I do transactions like going to the bank or the grocery story or the post office and I still tell people thank you and hope they have a good day. I don’t just take my stuff and leave. But then again, this is expected in the US. In some other countries, it’s not customary to thank those folks and perhaps it might be considered downright weird.
I’m not sure why some people seem so willing to rationalize why some people don’t say “thanks” after receiving a postcard. I could understand if someone neglects to say “thanks” when they’re new to the hobby, but some people to whom I’ve sent cards didn’t say “thanks” even though they’ve been in Postcrossing long enough to have sent and received thousands of cards. (And if a person is able to address and send thousands of cards, I’m pretty sure they’d also be able to type “Thanks” on a keyboard). Additionally, there’s even a message that states, when you’re about to register a card; “Use this space to send a thank you message to the sender of the postcard.” And if you then attempt to register a card without saying “thanks,” yet another message pops up inquiring whether you really want to register the card without leaving a message.
Fortunately, in the time I’ve been in Postcrossing, very few people have registered cards that they’ve received from me without saying “thanks,” and most have been very gracious. But I know for a fact that if the majority of people in Postcrossing couldn’t have been bothered to even say a simple “thanks” after receiving a card from me, then there would have been be no point for me to stay with Postcrossing for as long as I have.
Wonder if this is related… I recieved my very first card today! Yay! A message box showed up where I thanked the sender and made a comment on the lovely card. Then when it was sent, another message box came up to comment on the card, which I felt I had already done, so I left it blank. Was that wrong?
Do you mean the comment box on the card page? Where it shows sender, recipient, distance traveled? That’s the page others can see too and where you can for example comment who’s the artist or photographer. At the registration page (where you typed in the ID number), you can leave a message to the sender.
I agree with this totally jeffbh. It is very easy to write ‘thanks’ at the very least. I don’t buy the ‘don’t understand English’ either. If they understand enough English to register then they should know that one phrase. I’d even take a thank you in any language that I can copy/paste into Google Translate.
Very true…I think it simple polite manners to thank someone for their ‘gift’ of communication. How can a hobby and something cheering be a business transaction? That’s just my opinion of course. and I am not a ‘collector’, I just love the global communication and learning and getting real mail of course.
So I received an empty Hurray! message. It’s taking a long time for the postcards to arrive. And I spent a long time to match the best card + message for the receivers. It is quite difficult to get a card the receiver might like, because the postcards in South Africa are so limited. So the only thing available might be a standard tourist card or something mediocre or an animal (the animals are popular though). So I sent them a postcard which I decorated nicely (at least i think so), and while the postcard might not knock them off their feet, I thought the message was quite funny. It does involve politics, maybe that might be it?
So, during the pandemic, when the president addressed the nation, it came about that the “address of the nation” was called a “family meeting”. Even the news outlets would say “President Ramaphosa has called for a family meeting tonight at 8 o’clock”. Our President is even called “Uncle Cyril” and not President Ramaphosa in social media and in social circles. And it is done in a sweet way, not mean. If someone is being derogative, they call him “cupcake”. So “Uncle Cyril” is a very nice collective nod. I told the story of how we have “family meetings” and I compared each previous president to an archetype family member. Note only SA’s democratic presidents.
Example: Madiba (Tata) is everyone’s favorite grandfather. We still call him Tata Madiba in everyday language. (Tata means father in isiXhosa).
Thabo Mbeki is the Uncle everyone forgets to invite, but he still shows up.
Jacob Zuma: the creepy uncle that shows up unannounced and the kids are warned to stay away from.
An acting president: the step dad who was not part of the family for long before another divorce takes place.
President now (Cyril): everyone’s favorite uncle.
Is it because it was political? Although the message was not done in a left/right wing view (very neutral) humorous way, I merely shared how SA has made a collective (kind) inside joke about our politics and the way we talk about serious things.
I realize now that maybe it was too political for the person. (They did not state that they do not want anything political). It is just that most of the postcards I receive has such a lackluster message, that I wanted to write a message to someone that they might find humorous or that it gives a real insight to the country.
I hope i didn’t offend them. Also, if I wrote this sort of message to you, would you like to read about? What are your views?
