Hello everyone!
I was wondering what people’s preferences are for postcards with text or facts on them. Yay or nay?
On one hand, I enjoy context to the images that are being sent, but on the other hand, I can see how it can take away from the overall image.
Thoughts?
For me it doesn’t matter.
I like both. Probably, if I only got ones with text, I’d start wishing to receive ones without, but as people like to send different kinds of cards, I end up getting all kinds, and it’s very fine with me.
I love text on postcards! Titles, dates, descriptions, fun facts, websites…give me all of them! 
Even if they’re in a language I can’t read, I can usually pick out key names or other salient details. Often, I like to use these to look up more information on the subject!
If I received a postcard with just my address and the postcrossing ID on it seems to me that the sender couldn’t be bothered to put any effort into sending the card. I don’t mind what people write, could be information about the picture/the city, something about the persons life, a quote or a poem… as long as they write something! Of course not everyone speaks English well but I think a simple “Hello, I hope you have a good day” should be manageable. And since the text is on the back of of postcard I dont think it takes away from the image. 
On the front of the card, I prefer no text, unless it’s simply a location. Less visual clutter helps me enjoy the beauty of the postcard.
Yes, I agree - the less clutter on the front of the postcard the better. But on the back, I do like a bit of a description explaining the image. And if the card company doesn’t provide that, if the sender has adequate English, an explanation of what the image means to them us always nice.
Reading the other comments I think I might have misunderstood your question 
Were you referring to text that is part of the postcard? I like it when a postcard has a location on it, as sometimes it’s hard to remember where that card is from. But it shouldn’t be too much information, in that case I think that it takes away from the pictures. I have seen some cards where half of it is a picture and the other half the town history and I’m not the biggest fan of those.
Oops, I guess I should have clarified! I mean the side with the image. I’ve seen cards where the image is of the city, with facts on top of the image.
It depends. If the designer for the card has an eye for design, the text will go well with the picture. If the text is just slapped on the postcard with no care for the typeface, color, readability, or placement, I’m going to wonder what the heck the designer was thinking.
Lots of people request “Chronik Cards” from Germany – these are multiview cards with 4 or 5 views and a history of the city on the front of the card. I think such things are great! One great thing about Postcrossing is that you can ask for translations here in the Forum, so even if I got a card like that written in Chinese or Indian, I would probably be able to get a translation here.
One other nice thing about having so much info on the front is that then there is more opportunity for the sender to write something personal on the back, instead of just describing the image.
I like text on picture when it’s quote with illustration, or witty name which turns the meaning of picture upside down. Otherwise I prefer name of city on the postcard or another explanation info to be on the backside (when sender writes it instead usual helloes it’s even better).
Thinking of the latter though - once I was wanting to get a postcard exactly from Bielefeld, Germany, because of mock conspiracy, but when swap card arrived, it only had photos of city, no name on the front, back or cancellation stamp, or in the message. So I don’t even know still whether postcard actually shows photos of Bielefeld, who knows whether the city actually exists😬
I love text too, especially if it’s in another language! It provides information that I wouldn’t know and I can learn or know what is on my card! I don’t care if there is text or not, but text can be good!
Ah, I misunderstood! Well, my opinion still stands: I love text. My last received card was mostly text:
It gave me a chance to revisit the story of the Pied Piper, which admittedly I had mostly forgotten. 
(Those Grimm brothers really hated children, didn’t they? 
) Anyway, I love cards with stories on the front and back!
I prefer less text on the front of the card.
For my part, I like all types of cards, as long as it was chosen and written with the heart. For me the basic interest of postcrossing is to learn a lot about the world around me. So the text written by the person sending it to me is the most important.
I didnt know people outside of Germany know of this Bielefeld joke/“conspiracy”
Hell yeah! What postcrosser wouldn’t want one of these:
The Bielefeld Conspiracy was officially laid to rest in 2019.
“In August 2019, the council offered to give 1 million euros to any person who could provide “incontrovertible evidence” of its nonexistence in an effort to increase interest in the city. As no one was able to prove Bielefeld’s non-existence, the city therefore sees its existence as conclusive and the conspiracy as ended. To commemorate it, the city errected a glacial erratic block in the historic center near the Leineweber monument. A QR code on it directs to further background information.”
It seems now I should reroute my wishes to a postcard with this rock 
I miss the days when conspiracy theories were an inexhaustible source of humor and not…domestic threats to national security…
