CorpComms Magazine

While teenagers may scorn their parents' attempts at tweeting, it seems that their great grandparents could probably teach them a thing or two about Twitter.

When a tweet was still just a chirping sound made by a small bird, the Edwardians were using postcards to impart thoughts and opinions.

First introduced in 1902, the picture postcard, containing an image on one side and room for writing on the other, became an instant hit, according to a new study by Lancaster and Manchester Metropolitan universities.

Almost six billion postcards, an average of 200 per person, were posted in Britain between 1901 and 1910, according to the Postmaster General.

A postcard cost just half a penny to send, instead of the usual penny for a letter, and with up to ten postal deliveries a day, users could write and respond quickly and cheaply.

The study, by authors Julia Gillen and Nigel Hall, points out that, while Twitter restricts users to just 140 characters per tweet, postcard users had restricted space to pen a message.

Consequently, an abbreviated form of language that lacked punctuation emerged. One example said: 'A PC from you this mg. is it tomorrow or next Sat, the opening.'

Gillen said: 'Postcards were as speedy in their day as tweeting is today. And there was immediacy too - you didn't just send postcards on holiday, you received them.'

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