I never mark cards I received as favorites. The reason for this is that I want my favorites to be cards that people can use for orientation if they want to send me something. If I marked cards I received as favorite I might get them twice. Also, sometimes in the forum there are lotteries or tags where people take your favorites as a reference (I have received cards from my favorite list in tags and round robins).
I love the cards I am getting and I make sure to write a nice thank you message for every card. The reason why I donāt mark them as favorites is only because people could think I still want to add these cards to my collection and send them even though I have them already.
I think the opposite. Itās not rude to not favorite a postcard, itās just very nice if someone does that, because it may mean that they really love it and it fits their taste. But every postcard is like a glimpse of joy; if it wasnāt, people wouldnāt have signed up here.
In my opinion itās really an individual choice. I will be adding to favorites cards which appeal to my aesthetics (even if I didnāt receive them personally) and I hope it will be helpful to senders, but many people have different approach. At the same time I canāt wait to receive my first postcards and I will be very happy when they come to me (no matter how they look)!
I have noticed that āfavoritesā are used by members in two different ways: to designate which cards they received are really liked, or to indicate ones they have seen (in other members or the "postcard gallery/recently sent section) and want to receive. I mistakenly started to mark āfavoriteā almost all the cards I received, and now I think it is more useful to instead simply tell the sender, and use the āfavoritesā section to show cards (or series) I would like to get.
So, I have a couple of related questions:
How can we delete favorites from our wall?
How can we find cards we would like, and show them in āfavoritesā, other than having to troll through the āgallery/recently sentā section, or looking at another memberās wall (and if find it there, can we simply tag it as our own favorite?)
A broader question is whether we can search anywhere on the Postcrossing site for a type of favorite, such as bridges, beaches, movie posters, B&W, or a series such as Tausendschoen?
I think āfavoritesā is a critical link to review before sending out a card since many members do not have a suggested list, or their descriptions are not that clear. If āfavoritesā is used to show the cards (or at least types) they would like to receive, the site allows narrowing it to your country, and it is very helpful for us who have large collections of blank cards to use.
It is also helpful when the profiles disclose that the favorites are ones the member would like to get, and not just a list of all the ones received.
Finally, if āfavoritesā is a tool to show cards the member would like to get, this avoids having to look through thousands of cards (in some cases), at which point I usually give up!
Hi!
I started off making most cards I received as a favourite, like you. I just really appreciated that people have taken the time to send me a card! After a while, I realised this probably wasnāt giving other postcrossers an accurate idea of what I would really like, and spent the time reducing my favourite cards.
I tend to look on the gallery for what others are sending from the UK and favourite what I like, as well as look at the walls of people who like my cards. I look on the Forum at favourite cards sent. I hope this helps. I am not aware of any way to narrow down your search to particular types of cards.
I tried to start a thread a while back where people linked their favorites and listed the types of cards in it so that others with similar tastes could find more cards theyād like to receive to favorite, but it didnāt really take off.
I.e. Iād link my faves and say it includes things like portraits of historical women, anime cards, Gotochi, orchestras and instruments, Cherry blossoms, etc- so if someone also liked those things they could go through my favorites to see what Iād found, etc.
I pay attention to peopleās wishes in tags and things, and if it sounds like they have common interests Iāll check their profiles out to see what theyāve sent/received/favorited - Iāve found a lot that way!
Go to search - website, type your favorite theme, for example āSupermanā. List of members who mention Superman in their profile will appear. Check their favorite. Usually they will mark Superman cards as their favorite.
If you click on the heart to remove it, is the person who sent it notified, like they are notified when you āheartedā it in the first place? I wouldnāt want to hurt their feelings.
This is exactly the way I operate! I enjoy exploring cards and sometimes I am into very colorful cards and the next time I like black and white photo cards!I still feel I develop a āfavoriteā profile of my ātasteā in postcards.
I think that messages when you confirm that the postcard arrived are serving the purpose to let the sender know if you liked the postcard.
I love all of my received postcards though for all the different reasons as a person on the other side of the screen took the time to pick THE postcard for me and tell something interesting about themselves/ their culture/ their ideas or experience.
My favourites are a wishlist. Iāve got more than 2,000 postcards there. But I try to restrict the number from each country to 60. When I get a new address, I look at the postcards theyāve received from my country, and those theyāve favourited, but I only look at one page. Which is why I restrict my favourites from each country to just one page.
My favourites are simply beautiful cards that I want to look at again and again. Some Iāve received, most I havenāt. Iād be happy to receive them, but mainly my favourites gallery is just for me to look at. Itās a great stress relief, turning on the slideshow and just viewing beauty.
I often favourite cards because of what written on them. My wall reminds me of some really amazing things people have told me, and would make no sense picture wise to anyone else. I donāt have a wish list. I would much rather recieve a really thoughtful message than a specific card.
Since Iāve encountered this quite a few times lately I thought I would discuss it in the forum and also vent a little bit, haha.
I always make sure to read peopleās profiles thoroughly but as soon as I read āAll the postcards in my favorites are ones I havenāt received yet!ā, sometimes with the addition āPlease check the list in order to avoid duplicates!ā my motivation to choose a nice postcard for them and put effort into it drops significantly.
I donāt know about you, but the reason I enjoy writing postcards is because I want to put a smile on someoneās face. I always think about the cards that I choose, I attach washi tape or stickers and try to write something interesting on the back (mostly what the respective person has wished to learn about me or the city I live in). I am genuinely happy when people mark the cards they have received from me as favorites. It means Iāve chosen the right card and they appreciate my efforts and it made them happy.
Knowing that this wonāt be the case anyway from the beginning kind of puts a damper on the whole thing. Sure, they could still tell me they loved the card in the thank you note but this has rarely ever been the case in the entire time Iāve been on here.
And there are two more practical reasons why I dislike only favoriting cards that you still wish to receive and asking people to check the list. First, itās time-consuming. I donāt want to click my way through 15 pages of little pictures of which I will forget 99% as soon as I click āNextā anyway.
And secondly, the world is full of postcards. I have never ever owned a card someone wanted to receive, in fact, this is so highly specific that I doubt that anyone would ever have the card they want to get, unless they messaged the original sender and asked for a direct swap.
Of course I have also favorited some postcards I saw on other membersā walls but I would never expect someone to send me these, itās just to give people a general idea of what kind of postcard I enjoy receiving, if they wish to check my favorites. 95% of my favorites are cards I have received myself and marked as favorites because people had put a lot of effort into choosing something for me and I wanted to thank them for that.
Iām guilty of using my favourites wall as a wishlist
Iām always a bit at loss when I get a profile of someone that doesnāt state preferences or says āI like all cardsā: what if I send them a card that after all they wonāt really like? Of what if they actually have preferences even if they donāt state them, and I may have a perfect card for them but Iāll never know?
I love Postcrossing because itās about connecting with people, but choosing what I think is a great card for them is also part of the fun - so in case those who get my address think the same, my favourites list is there just for inspiration about the kind of card I prefer. If a person chooses to send me a card they like without checking it, itās perfectly fine, and I hope my profile doesnāt sound demanding - ārequestingā to check my favourites list itās something I would never do, itās just there: use it if you want, donāt use it if you donāt, both things will be great for me.
Besides, I donāt really like to choose favourites among the cards I receive. There are of course cards that I like more because they show the themes I prefer, but Iāve received cards that may not be estetically my ādream cardā but with the nicest, sweetest messages. And even if the card is not gorgeous and the message is not amazing, there may be a lot of good reasons for this - maybe the sender doesnāt know English very well, or had a bad day and it reflects on the card, or is allergic to cats and my profile photo puts them in a bad mood - who knows? Iāll appreciate the effort anyway.
Have I ever received a card with no effort whatsoever that has disappointed me? Yes, it has happened, very rarely I must say, maybe 2-3 times. Nonetheless, I strongly believe that if you havenāt got anything nice to say, you shouldnāt say anything at all and for the same reason I would keep my disappointment for myself - not having a favourite lists means the sender will never know
I think some of us are just a bit more free spirited and really do enjoy each and every card. I am actually surprised by how many people take this so seriously and some seem stressed out about it. I do not have a list of preferences. I much prefer people to send whatever they would like and make a point of saying that. I canāt imagine a card someone would send me that I wouldnāt like. Sure, some will be favourites. But I donāt need the perfect card. I just want to connect with people.
But every postcard is like a glimpse of joy; if it wasnāt, people wouldnāt have signed up here.
- who knows? Iāll appreciate the effort anyway.
and for the same reason I would keep my disappointment for myself - not having a favourite lists means the sender will never know