Opinionated Thought

Stranger Mail

Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 July 2009 12:19
Written by John Doe Wednesday, 01 July 2009 07:18

Culture - American

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Stranger Mail
By Happenin Records | Published: June 25, 2009

This is an open invitation for you to participate in Stranger Mail, an experimental pen pal project. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to help out.

Stranger Mail is a social experiment in which two anonymous strangers correspond through the mail without any knowledge of each other’s individual identity.

Here’s how it works: You mail a series of letters for an unknown pen pal to a middleman (me), and the middleman repackages and re-mails your letter to a person who’s name and place you do not know. Your pen pal will not know your identity either. You and your pen pal will write each other five letters each. At the end of your correspondence I will publish your dialogue online.

What’s the point of doing this? This is simply an experiment and the fun will be in observing the outcome. I am interested in seeing what kind of interactions people have when they initiate dialogue with the freedom of anonymity and without knowledge of the identity of the person on the other end.

The Rules: The only rule is that you do not reveal who you are or where you live. Refer to yourself and your pen pal as stranger. Other than that, anything is fair game. You can hand-write your letter, type it, draw pictures, or mail  your finger nail clippings for all I care. Be creative!

Instructions:

• Tell me if you want to participate. Do NOT comment on this post. Instead, send me a private This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it titled “Stranger Mail” that includes your mailing address.
• Wait for me to match you with a pen pal and tell you if you will be sending or receiving the first letter.
• Mail all of your letters to Dustin Timbrook, 404 O’shaughnessy Ave. Huntsville, Al 35801.
• Include your return address on the envelope.
• Put an extra stamp in your envelope for me to use when I re-mail your letter to your pen pal. If you are mailing something larger than a letter please include the necessary postage for that as well.

FAQ.

Will my identity remain secret?

To your pen pal and to the rest of the world, yes. The only person who will know who you are is me, and I intend to keep your secret safe. That doesn’t mean I will keep my mouth shut under waterboarding, but I’m not going to spill the beans under normal circumstances.

What’s to stop pen pals from revealing their identity?

After the correspondence is published, nothing. You are free to announce who you are on this site if you like, or remain anonymous forever. However, if you reveal your identity before the correspondence is complete I will cut you off from further participation.

Why not just do this with email?

The physical process of writing, packaging and mailing a letter requires more work than the simple act of sending an email. Hopefully that aspect will translate into more time and care put into the letters sent. Also, there are different creative possibilities available with tangible media that the Internet cannot provide.

Can I invite others to participate?

Please do! Just don’t repost my address because it will change in the future. Re-blog this, post a link on a message board, or use the ShareThis button below to post it to your Facebook, Digg or Myspace account.

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