Ellison: As letters disappear, people find new ways to connect online

Denmark recently phased out traditional mail and sent its last letter through its national postage service, marking an end to an era. The decision reflects a broader global shift toward digital communication as messaging apps and online communication replace paper correspondence. 

University of Michigan School of Information professor Nicole Ellison, an expert on online digital communication, says that while letters may be disappearing, the need for human connection has not. 

“We are people,” she says. “And ultimately we will use any available channel to convey the rich world of emotions.”

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Read “Digital age brings Denmark’s postal service to a historic end” on CNN. 

Nicole Ellison is a Karl E Weick collegiate professor of information and professor of information at UMSI, a professor of communication and media and a professor in the Digital Studies Institute at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Learn more about her research and interests by visiting her UMSI faculty profile.