Whose brilliant idea was it to make a huge census before the end of the year, knowing very little of survey design and statistics? 🙋♀️ In theory, it sounded like a good idea… but then soooo many more of you replied than we expected, that it has definitely been a challenge to parse through all this data and make sense of the replies. Slowly though, we’re making our way through the numbers and getting a better idea of who postcrossers are, and how we can more effectively stir the project in the future.
So let’s start this analysis by the basics and try to paint a picture of who postcrossers are, based on the things that stand out from the census.
We knew this already, but Postcrossing continues to be a lot more popular among women overall, and the age range of the typical postcrosser is quite spread out. Somehow, I expected to see more teenagers reflected in the statistics… but then again, I can’t imagine a teen having the patience to reply to a survey, so that may explain it. 😅 Overall, we’re quite happy about this age distribution, which tells us this is a community that is made out of not just young people, but older generations as well.
About 74% of people surveyed live in what they consider urban areas, which in hindsight is probably something we should have defined better, as the line between a city and something else is often not very clear — another thing to improve on the next census. And finally, most of us feel very comfortable using computers and the internet (which was option 5 in the scale).
Not unexpectedly given their popularity, most postcrossers seem to prefer Instagram over other types of social media, followed closely by Youtube and Facebook, with Twitter a distant fourth. Note for 2021's census: do a better job at including non-English social networks, which we completely missed! Still, quite a few of you mentioned VK (the Russian social network), Whatsapp and Telegram, WeChat and Weibo and even websites like Ravelry, Goodreads and Bookcrossing.
One of the questions asked “Are you a collector?”, and 37% of you mentioned you weren’t collectors at all, but almost half of the respondents said they collected postcards and 20% mentioning being stamp collectors. Keep in mind that this was a multiple choice reply, so there’s likely some overlap of people who are collectors of more than one item.
Beyond postcards and stamps, the answers split into a myriad of replies, all with just a tiny percentage each. Here are the top 10 most popular collections: currency, books, magnets, stickers, bookmarks, pens/pencils, rocks/minerals, dolls, tea and art. What we found most interesting though were the choices that just a few people picked, like thimbles, snow globes, fruit stickers, rubber ducks, funko pops… the list stretches into infinity! That said, 11 of you mentioned collecting “elephants” and we hope these don’t refer to the actual animal, or you’ll quickly run out of space at home… 😅
That’s all for today! We’ll continue extracting statistics from the census and will report on them throughout the year. Stay tuned!
79 comments so far
i love your stats... More please! I love it!
I love statistics too
My grandma actually used to collect elephants, she'd just collect stuff with elephants on them or small ornaments. She stopped before the amount of elephants in her home became too crazy though 😅
Super interesting! Amazed at how many women are Postcrossers! Looking forward to more stats :)
I love this! I liked the funny elephant reference 😀.
This blog came when we all appreciate restating that we we are connected to others- any way of reinforcing this fact is so helpful! Keep this info coming:)
I thought there would be more in the 60+ age group.
I love how Postcrossing feels like a community. And these sorts of stats make it all the more so!
How fun and interesting! It's nice to know the stats!
These stats are amazing and nice to read
I loved the elephant joke in the end 😂
I know that there are many Postcrossers who do this as a group activity, such as school classes and families. It would be interesting to find out which percentage of Postcrossing members are in groups.
Great, that's why I love Postcrossing ❤️❤️❤️
I collect elephants, they come in all sizes and different materials. My favourites are a elephant coming out of a egg. Also an ostrich egg that has a full size elephant carved on it, plus my license plate for my car is Elfant. Collections just over 275. Happy Postcrossing
The best part of postcrossing is learning about people all over the world first handed. Most of us only know what the media tells us on the news.
I'd hate to be judged by only the news coming out of the US these days.
We're all individuals living our lives and not what makes the headlines.
hahahaaha...... The blog really came alive with the elephants!
Thank you for the delightful humor. It certainly makes us feel alive :)
@Wendylou I thought there would be more Postcrossers aged 40 and above, too! I seem to come across a large number of them. Perhaps the survey results were a bit skewed due to the older Postcrossers being less likely to do an online survey?
Thank you :))). I love Postcrossing :)
This was cool!
Fascinating! I thought my age group (60-69) would have the most! I am delightfully wrong!
Thanks for this look at who we are.
Postcrossing is changing the way we see the world, one postcard at a time "Grão a grão", meiadeleite. With this blog post you broke another cliché: men are red and women are blue 😀
I'm collecting owls. Of course only the little figures ;) But I'm collecting stamps and coins too.
Super !! Sbírám slony , magnety , panenky , kočky a sovy. Miluji Postcrossing !!!!!!!
Fantastic to know the statistics .:P
This is great, I love a stat and it appears I'm a typical postcrosser 😄
more surveys!
It was fun to read the stats! Thank you to the people "behind the scenes" who keep postcrossing moving forward and to the postcrossers who kept me going, especially during the pandemic. So wonderful to hear from people all over the world!
Ah... data, more, more more.
So fun!
Thank you for seeking the data & the patience to tabulate it!
Enjoyed this.
d
Nice facts! I like Postcrossing!
Well done!
:) :D
Thank you for the stats of Postcrossing! I find it very interesting, too. It is nice to know more of other postcrossing friends!
great job! Many Thanks, also some of your analytic comments are funny. I enjoyed reading.
Well done! :-)
Great statistics!
Would be interesting to know how many of us replied to it :)
I`m typical postcrosser))))
Interesting facts) Thank you! great job!
I love numbers, statistics, data... Can't wait for more on postcrossing! (yes, you may call me weird, haha...)
Is this because women are more inclined to communicate and find common ground? I read that women's brains are wired for working together. The list of stress responses such as fight, flight, freeze (me!) is incomplete. Women tend to commiserate and help each other (given enough time, of course). That and love for little pretty things - cards, washi tapes, stickers. It's an evolutionary trend - women choose men who lavish them with gifts which could be just shiny trinkets. Nowadays cards are just easier than rocks or elephants for that matter!
My mother in law also collect elephants. Not the real elephants 🐘 of course. She also collect clowns 🤡
Not unusual that the typical postcrosser is female, urban, and comfortable using the Internet. I've been a member since July 2011, with almost 5,000 cards sent/received, and I shop for cards, stickers, and photos that favor that group. A majority also expressed interests in travel, reading, and family.
I hope your future summaries discuss the recommendations you may have received from users. One I made in the past is the ability to see the sender's page before acknowledging a card - it helps to be able to read their names, location, and understand their message.
You might also want to create a page in the blogs for comments about shopping for supplies, like where users get washi tape or some of the specialty cards people try to collect.
Finally, with 2020 being such an unusual year, I would be interested to know if others have experienced a shift in the mood in the community. I get more cards now that state the senders are appreciating what they have lost in their life in the covid restrictions, and how they really value the ability to share more in the postcards.
This was interesting. Thanks
Thank you for the info. Maybe next month subject to talk about on your cards is; "What do you collect and why". "If you don't collect, why not".
Think about it, OK
Wow. Thanks for all your hardwork in making the stats look so easy to understand. ALOT of work went into the behind the scene on THIS article!!!
I'm glad to know. Really great you took this task :)
Despite being male, urban, and in the oldest age category, I feel that I am a typical postcrosser. I connect with someone by sending and receiving a postcard. I find the statistics interesting, but hope to continue enjoying this community without them being at the forefront of my considerations.
Then again, I am a 2021 new boy. Let the elephant not forget.
Thank you ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for this interesting information. Some of it was surprising! Keep up all you do!!
I am a teenager and I did not sit through the census because I was walking home from the park while doing it. So I WALKED through the census. So yes, you were correct I did not have the patience to sit through the census
When I started Postcrossing, I was in the "30 - 39" age group and now I'm in the "50 - 59" age group! :-D
Shows how much I <3 Postcrossing! :-)
nice- love you-
That's a great work. I love those things and was happy to participate in the survey. Thank you for telling us these secrets. :-)
I'm 73 years old today. Did I get into your statistics? It's a complicated business-statistics, but surprisingly useful. My hobby is collecting a wooden spoon. Elena. Moscow. Russia
Wonderufl stats, I want more please! Thank you
Statistics are usually boring. But the postcrossing statistics are fascinating. So I'm waiting for more information.😉 I wonder how many postcrossing members passed the census.
@JoanaDaSilva funny remark about "men are red and women are blue" 😅
Great to read about this. Love this.
Awesome!
I really enjoyed reading this! Postcrossing is wonderful. With Wonderful people!!
How fun and interesting! more trivia knowledge, enjoy it.
Thank you for this super informative statistics! 🙏
Please keep doing this in the future 😊
I have just three comments to make:
1. Well done at PC HQ - a fascinating insight.
2. I agree with the person who said, it would be useful to be able to read a person's profile before responding to their card. (Sometimes names and places are difficult to read)
3. I look forward to learning how man people work at Postcrossing. (Ana might just me - the rest of them sit around drinking coffee!)
All the best,
Dustybee in Devon
you should put on your next census, how many postcrossers are mail carriers!!
This is very interesting!
How fun! I love reading the stats!
I am not usually interested in statistics but this one was fascinating! Thanks for all your hard work in growing this amazing hobby! No turning back now! ;-)
how interesting is this stats!! thank you for your work ;>
I wonder if this is different from other years considering all the disruptions in mail due to covid. Lots of countries not accepting mail from others has impacted the amount of people able to send cards. I'm looking forward to the time when mail is no longer disrupted, and we can send cards all over the world again!
Thanks for the interesting survey results!
I am curious: how many people actually work at Postcrossing, and what was the range of our answers to that question?
Again, a most wonderful blog...so entertaining and revealing. And, as usual, one of my favorite parts of any blogs are the great comments. Everyone (in the Postcrossing Community) is so open and friendly and eager to share themselves with others. Keep the stats coming -- looks like there's several requests. (Stay safe, well, and warm)
Elephants with their trunks pointing up are supposed to bring good luck :)
Fascinating. Thank you for the charts! It is also fun for me to browse various countries and their most prolific Postcrossers.
As a man just a few days short of 80 years old, who loves stamps, images and international communication, I am surprised that men make up only 20% of Postcrossers. I think that this says something profound about society, but I'm not sure just what. I have had some delightful communications and stamp swaps with other men on Postcrossing; of course these would be like-minded men.
Another interesting statistic might be for people to estimate how much time each week or month they spend on this marvelous hobby.
very interesting!
Loved these exercise. Ok, I knew that more women are into this hobby but never knew that women participants are almost 80%. Or maybe this skewness happened as men didn't respond to the survey.
I think same thing with age , maybe 40+ age groups didn't respond. The right data can appear if we collect it from Member profile !
I'm collecting sugar bags :)
I think it is not surprising young people are in minority. They have less time and they do not have the money to have different cards in store and buy the often very expensive stamps to send them away!
Very interesting! I love stats!
I recently re-joined postcrossing after a long time and I've missed the survey, but I'm happy to read I'm not the only one - still among the few - who collects rubber ducks!!! :D
A few years ago, I did a survey in the social network VK (Russia). Age under 20 years - 24%, age over 40 years-6 %, the rest-70% from 20 to 39 years. I believe that the decline among older people is very strong in Russia.
I noticed the mention of snow globes that people collect. I had a friend in the US who had quite a large collection. I was planning to visit her but she sadly passed away from lung cancer before we had a chance to meet in person. She arranged for me to have one of her precious snow globes which was sent to me by her brother after she died. The little snow girl/boy is holding an envelope with a red heart on it. It is one of my special treasures.
Very interesting and... Ana, you comment it in a so funny way!
Wow, great job!
My age group is the 60/69! I'm excited to take a look and be part of the community. Greetings from Brazil!
I love surveys! It was nice to read the outcomes.
But... I question some of your conclusions.
One conclusion you made is that youngsters (age 10-19) are low in numbers because they don't take the time to take part in the survey.
An alternate conclusion could be that they don't take part in Postcrossing because they are so busy making friends and define who they want to be in life. I see it in my own daughter of twelve years old. She loved to postcross with me. But now she's older, having her first crush, making friends, and finding out who she is... she's no longer interested in Postcrossing anymore. In your statistics there is a big upper at age 20-29. This is the age most of us start your steady life. Hormones are in balance, friends are made and you know who you are or want to be. There is room/space again for Postcrossing.
The second conclusion you made is that majority of the postcrossers live in urban areas. Well... I think most people live in urban areas anyway. Maybe it's interesting to see what percentage of urban people postcross versus what percentage of rural people postcross.
I totally agree with your conclusions about elephants! There could be only five in my house, but please, don't move!!!!!
ln fact l 'm one of the teens (^.^),though it needs really a long time to wait, it 's wonderful.
Very happy to see the results of the census being shared with the community. Thank you so much for your hard work :)
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