Thank You, everyone, for your answers and suggestions. I wrote it because I felt it from some of my recent encounters. BUT nevertheless ITS a hobby worth doing.
Yes, I understood your point that yes some people consider it for collecting mainly.
Thank You so much For sharing your thoughts.
But collecting hobbies are not the only kinds of hobbies!
Iām sorry you felt discouraged by some recent encounters. I wish you much more joy and happy encounters in the futureā¦ May your postbox be filled with beautiful postcards and meaningful connection!
Iād be surprised if the collecting of postcards is even in the top ten of ācollectingā hobbies, unless, of course, relatively few people collect material things at all, these days, given the advent of the computer. (Compared to years past, very few people now collect books, records, stamps, etc.) As far as postcards, I go to postcard collector shows, and there are few people in attendance, and the majority of them seem to be at least fifty years old. Most hobbies depend on an influx of new, young enthusiasts in order to sustain themselves.
Iām fairly new, Iāve only received 19 cards but of that small quantity, it seems three were not about connecting. Two just wrote happy postcrossing and the other just drew a very simplistic picture of a cats face. I joined because it was supposed to be about connecting. So those three cards disappointed me. That being said, the cards Iāve received through the forums and the other 16 official cards were very nice, and Iāve learned things about people in other areas. Iām loving this little hobby.
In reference to the commercial aspect, seems like some people get to advertise their business pages and blogs and other do not even get to abbreviate their business name when posting . I donāt understand that. Is that what you mean by commercial?
@RalfH quite true. Many many years ago, my friend ran into a fellow who collected comics/funnies from newspapers. He had about 15-20 binders of such clippings.
Postcrossing is sending a part of your to someone abroad to make their day more better:)
The trade and tags forums are definitely transactional so avoid those if that concerns you. The official side is still just draw a name and mail off your card with whatever message you want to send. But its just a fleeting moment (unless you want to develop long term pen pals)
I try to put out good vibes and effort when sending cards / messages, but maybe a little over half of the messages I receive from users are pretty generic (happy postcrossing) or something akin. Iāve noticed this as a slow trajectory over the years, but suspect that a lot has to do with the expense of postage, sadly.
Iād be interested in learning the proportions of new users from countries other than USA, Germany, Russia, and China.
Well said
No wonder. I wouldnād tell secrets or awkward things to total strangers either.
I donāt think the tagging or trading threads are transactional. The goal of postcrossing is in by itself to collect cards. The messages are obviously part of that but either way most people enjoy the whole package both front and back. I prefer to get cards that are aesthetically pleasing to me and what my interests are but for me I also get much more joy sending cards then receiving them. Because its a chance to be a little bit creative by putting some washi tape, stickers and stamps in an artful way. To me postcards are mini traveling pieces of art. And if I put a lot of care into a card I send out it might brighten up someoneās day. I canāt tell others how to send their cards. And I donāt think we should worry so much about how much they do or donāt write. Just appreciate every card for what it is. And maybe when you do get the extra special card then it means a lot more and makes that particular postcrosser that much more memorable.
Iāve been around on this site for over 10 years, and my impression is that it must frustrate anybody with too specific expectations - be it long and heartfelt messages, beautiful cards, or great stamps. If Iām still around, itās because I quickly accepted that people are here for very different reasons and wonāt always deliver what I like most. Meanwhile Iām having fun my own way - which of course involves making Postcrossing a little bit more the place Iād like it to be.
The only thing that pisses me off (a little) is when a Postcrossing profile tells me what I CANNOT write aboutā¦
I am not interested in direct swaps. Having said that I love receiving and sending postcards. I read everybodyās profile carefully and then I see what I can do to accommodate their requests. Even if somebody says, they really donāt care, that theyāre not fussy I still try to choose one that I think theyāll like. I prefer it if they have a wish list but if they donāt I work with that.
I wouldnāt say tags are transactional. For me itās a way to secure that at least some of the cards I send are really wanted by the recipient (otherwise they wouldnāt tag, right), amd also to get cards I really like, so to have a little bit of control - although I still enjoy the official PC. Also itās sometimes really like game, if weāre talking about Uno tag or Scavenger Hunt.
Do you really expect people telling you their secrets or at least private things? Youāre a total stranger 
Everytime I got a profile where people asking for ātell me a secretā or some like that I am very careful and think twice about what I write. Most of the time I end up with a very generic message (what I hate, but I donāt like profiles which are too curious 
). It has something to do with my past and bad experiences, which unfortunately had a great impact on me.
I actually feel itās not like a request for something very personal, but a playful invitation to share something you donāt normally discuss, like I would confess some innocent guilty pleasures (Iām sorry for the oxymoron) like watching Tom and Jerry when Iām exhausted )))
Perhaps, perhaps not.
I had profiles asking for āPlease tell me a dark secret of you, maybe you did a crime?ā or āTell me what you would normally tell nobody, not even your partnerā or (for me the creepiest, sadly not on Postcrossing so I wouldāve reported that profile) āI collect secrets from strangers because I will write them down on my blogā
And as Iāve written before I made strange experiences in my past and yes, maybe Iām doing someone an injustice, but Iād rather play it safe and want that to be accepted by them (the profile drawn by me).
But itās getting too off topic now 
I just wanted to say that if someone writes a generic message it has not always something to do with ātoo transactionalā.
Youād be surprised. Many people have a lot to get off their proverbial chest, and jump at the opportunity to do so.
But the rest wrute generic messages and Iād be one of the rest.