Is the Writing on the Wall for Letter Writing?

A quarter of teens call snail mail the most passé way to convey in 2007. But the great-granddaughter of an etiquette doyenne wants to rescue letters before the 'Net makes them extinct. She says ink on paper still carries “more weight” than email, not to mention leaving a permanent record. "Consider the 'Letters of Emily Dickinson,'” said Cindy Post Senning. “What if she had e-mail?"

The Internet isn’t entirely to blame though, CNET reports; kids have been calling home instead of writing for years. One analyst says letter writing will evolve into a mark of affluence and class. But Senning cautions that letter-writing is different from email: You can't use Internet slang, and you must remember that archaic tradition... of actually mailing it. (More email stories.)