When I came to Korea in 1995 there was no email available to the general public. I communicated with my friends and family in Canada with handwritten letters. The next year, a few Internet cafes started to appear in Seoul and I began to communicate with friends through email. People stopped writing letters.
A few years later, the first instant messaging programs started to appear. The first one I used was MSN Messenger. When people started using messenger programs they stopped writing email.
These days I communicate with friends and family mostly through programs like Skype, Google Chat, and NateOn. They are convenient but it is difficult to say much through them. When I wanted to tell a friend about a trip in the past, I might have written a whole page on the places and people I met during my travels. These days, because of the limited space in chat programs, I might simply answer, "I had a good trip. The food was good."
It is foolish and unrealistic of me to expect people to return to handwritten letters sent through the post, but I do miss reading letters and email sent by friends. Chat programs are nice but I would rather read about my friends' feelings and not just their 'status'.
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That said, I would like to tell you that NateOn does not work so well on my iMac computer. Therefore, if you would like to chat or send a message, please sign up for a Skype account. There is a Korean version of the program. My ID is Marcus Peddle.
And a handwritten letter or email would be lovely. ^^