Just a week and a bit away until the start of February. I should be excited, but this year, I am not. I have participated in the February letter writing projects since 2012 but this is the second year I am not ecstatic about both A Month of Letters and International Correspondence Writing Month. Both want you to send nice mail every (postal) day. However, for some, it is just a check box exercise, rather than seeking meaningful connection and penfriendship.
Also, the decision to allow an account on LetterMo to seek addresses for a prisoner have worried some people, even declining friendship request is met by another request with no ability to say F OFF. It is one of the reasons I deleted my account. And while prison penpals can be a good thing, it should be for the "free" person to seek postal contact with an inmate via a prison penpal website.
Then, this year, a post appeared on the InCoWriMo address exchange page for 2025, from this same person requesting penpals for the inmate. It has since been deleted as has the LetterMo account (edit - 6th Feb 2025 - there appears to be a new account for him). The person claims not to be grabbing addresses for the prisoner, but I'd take that with a pinch of salt.
The account I set up for myself on disqus is having comments marked as spam. Even my upvoting is invisible. (edit - 6th Feb 2025 - I can comment again).
It is such a shame... the idea for the projects is good, but...
