LettrWritr is a web-based application that explores the relationship of form, content, and meaning in interpersonal communications channels.

From Marshall McLuhan, who theorized on the relationship between media and message, to Neil Postman who applied these theories to television as a news information source in \"Amusing Ourselves to Death,\" the idea of separating form and content for study is not new. Recently, these ideas have been applied to interpersonal communication, in light of the many communication channels we now enjoy, by Sociologist Stephanie Broadbent. Research in this particular area has been ongoing for some time, although, until the last decade, it was mainly limited to understanding how mediated communication compares as a subsititute for face-to-face interaction. It is now proven that having a multitude of communications channels at our disposal actually enables richer conversations. While these channels are usually chosen out of an individual\'s desire to shape their self-presentation to others, their use and meaning are largely socially constructed. Older channels become more specialized as new ones emerge, and their use becomes codified to the point of having their own \"ettiquette.\"

With every communications medium, there is always a certain amount of ignorance on the part of the user. Most people don\'t understand exactly how their email messages are sent, or their voice is transmitted over the phone, but we trust that the message we put out will arrive wholly intact when it reaches its intended recipient. That is, unless the email message is, for some reason, undeliverable, or the cell phone reception is bad and the communicators\' voices become scrambled. With letter-writing, there is very little outsourcing invloved, most of the work being accomplished on the user\'s end. While this is one of the reason why letters have the \"meaning\" that they do, it is entirely possible to remove much of this labor from the user\'s end and still come to the same intended effect.

In many transactions, there are also issues of privacy which tend to arise. Historically speaking, the advance of technology usually takes shape in the extent to which we remove the human mediation of our transactions. Letter writing, sending a telegram, or placing a phone call all used to involve some human component. In this way \"advancement\" can be seen as the further personalization of our communications media. In the digital age, while we are even further enabled to contact eachother directly, without intermediaries, the nature of our communications have become more public, and most of our transactions leave a digital trail. These trails are always a threat to security and privacy, especially when they are left unwittingly by the user or misappropriated by the administrator of any service that facilitates this exchange. It\'s easy, as a user, to oversee the problems that could arise from using such services, or, more likely, to simply ignore them. There are currently millions of My Space users leaving billions of digital trails which they do not, really, have control over. What I am proposing for LettrWritr is this: that your information is more secure when the human mediator is reintroduced. As the \"technology\" behind LettrWritr, I am more secure, more trustworthy, and more capable of making informed, intelligent decisions than the technology behind most of our current communications channels.


LettrWritr is intended for anyone who feels that their communication will be better received in the form of a letter, but who, for whatever reason, simply can\'t find the time to write one. With email largely replacing letters as a means of correspondence, I\'m hoping to encourage more people to write to eachother by making it as easy as writing an email.

Users who come to the site have the option to either choose a carefully constructed theme from our portfolio, which includes the selection of paper, envelope, writing implement, handwriting style, and stamp, or of customizing their own letter by choosing from a variety of options. The user then selects greetings, closings, human-correction and editing style (from light grammatical corrections to a complete reworking of their intended message), and types the body and postscript of his intended message. Once he\'s provided all of the necessary postal information and agreed to our terms and conditions (which, simply stated, explain that I am not responsible for letters that do or don\'t get to their intended recipient, and that I reserve the right to ignore any submissions that I deem inappropriate or offensive), he can submit his letter. At this point the letter will be constructed according to his specifications and delivered by post within the following week.

I am personally curating all of the materials offered on the site, and putting together themed packages from these materials. All of the materials are displayed on the site for the user to see before he selects. I am personally handwriting all letters at this time, though I intend to recruit future letter-writers based on their handwriting style and materials contributions.

There is still more in store for LettrWritr! I intend to make t he site more robust by offering more opportunity for users to see their opttions before they choose. I am also, as per Shawn Van Every\'s wonderful suggestion, implementing an asterisk component, which will allow users to call in and dictate their letters. Most importantly, I am hoping to build a network of letter writers, and a content management system for the site, allowing others to easily contribute their time and materials to the project.