Pen Pal Friendships Go Modern With E-mail, Video Mail and Audio Mail

Pen pal friendship is a way of not only making new friends but also learning about new cultures. In today's society, a pen pal does not necessarily mean one of the traditional sense of snail mail but can mean video pen pals, audio pen pals or e-mail pen pals. Rest assured that the traditional form of snail mail is still alive and kicking.

Of course, when seeking out snail pen pals; especially on the Internet; it is always smart to follow a few simple steps. While a portion of the people want nothing more then to find new friends, there are those out there seeking something else.

(1) Create an e-mail address that will in a sense allow you to remain anonymous. Such places like hotmail and yahoo offer free e-mail addresses.

(2) Do not post your full name on the web.

(3) Consider a P.O. Box or a box at one of the mail stores. This can protect you from having people showing up at your home or mailing unsafe items to you.

(4) Tell the truth in your ad. Starting out a friendship with a lie is bad form.

(5) Do not give out your phone number or other personal information that you are not comfortable in sharing.

(6) Pen pal letters that arrive that are asking for money and/or marriage are nine out of ten times a scam and should not be taken seriously.

There are many websites out there on the Internet that one can use for finding a pen pal. Of course, one must be careful when posting their information on such a site, but then, if you follow the simple steps above, you should be relatively safe. Only you can know what's best for you. If you do not feel safe in sharing something, then don't.

E-mail pen pals can offer an even cheaper alternative then snail mail and also offers a more safer route. With an e-mail pen pal, one never has to give out their full name or their home address. Another advantage to e-mail pen pals is the amount of time it takes for a letter to travel from one friend to another. E-mail is almost instantaneous so a letter that you could have a respond in the evening to a letter that you've written in the morning.

Whichever method you choose, remember to have fun and make new friends. That should be your primary goal in seeking out a pen friend(s). Anything after that like culture exchange or language exchange is just an added bonus.