Send an Electronic Greeting Card Day

If spotting a cute emoji can put a smile on someone’s face, imagine how it would brighten their day to get an even more personal surprise in their in-box. Make that happen on Send An Electronic Greeting Card Day.

This annual occasion reminds us of the joy of sending and receiving warm messages to one another. We have the latest technology at our fingertips. So why not try? It will make you feel good inside.

1843
First Commercial Christmas Card
British civil servant Henry Cole commissions artist John Callcott Horsley to design a lithographed Christmas card for mass production, helping to popularize the idea of sending printed greeting cards.
1860s
Greeting Cards Become a Mass Market in the United States
American printer Louis Prang begins publishing high‑quality chromolithographed greeting cards in Boston, making decorative cards widely available and helping establish the greeting card industry.
1987
GIF Format Is Introduced
CompuServe engineer Steve Wilhite creates the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), a compressed image standard that later becomes central to early animated web graphics and many online greeting cards.
1994
“The Electric Postcard” Brings Greetings to the Web
At the MIT Media Lab, Judith Donath launches “The Electric Postcard,” one of the first systems that lets web users select an image, add a message, and send a digital greeting via email.
1996
Commercial E‑Card Services Take Off
Entrepreneur Judith K. Martin founds Blue Mountain Arts’ online card service, which quickly becomes one of the web’s most popular destinations for sending free electronic greeting cards to friends and family.
2004
Facebook Launch Spurs Social Birthday Greetings
With Facebook’s launch and later introduction of birthday reminders, millions of users begin sending digital wall posts and messages instead of (or in addition to) traditional paper cards.
2010s
Mobile Apps and Multimedia Transform E‑Cards
Smartphones, app stores, and faster mobile networks enable richly animated, musical, and video‑based greeting apps, turning electronic cards into personalized multimedia experiences sent in seconds.

History of Send An Electronic Greeting Card Day

Electronic greeting cards, or e-cards, beautifully meld technology with traditional greeting cards.

The story of the now-familiar digital greeting card burst into pop culture in the middle of the 1990s. In the early 90s, computers (then hefty in size) entered our homes. As people became more proficient, they learned new ways to use them to streamline their lives.

Judith Donath wrote the first chapter of the electronic greeting card’s history at the M.I.T. Media Lab and introduced “The Electric Postcard” in 1994. This new idea was an entirely new way to send a greeting. But it started a revolution – a new time of digital correspondence.

These early ecards had quaint pixelation. Soon after, they contained the earliest GIFs, which conveyed enthusiasm. Receiving one was a delightful surprise.

Over the years, electronic greeting cards have evolved with technology. Once, sending one required intentional shopping for an e-card, a lengthy checkout process, and then a slow upload. Users would hope the file was not too large to send.

Today’s e-greetings can be quickly purchased and sent securely from a computer or a phone. The evolution continues onward.

How to Celebrate Send An Electronic Greeting Card Day

Celebrating this day combines traditional sentiment and digital doodling. Here’s how to spend some time on this Send An Electronic Greeting Card Day:

Check out the World of E-Cards

Send An Electronic Greeting Card Day is perfect for finally ditching paper cards once and for all. You’ll find no shortage of creative messages online. Think of e-card websites as the grand buffet of the digital world. You can find a message to send everyone!

Need a chuckle-worthy cat meme for your feline-loving friend? Do you have to find a heartwarming landscape to tell someone you miss them? The e-card universe has got you covered for either.

Choosing an e-card is like selecting the right card from the rack in a store. It’s the thought that counts, but still, a little humor will take you far.

Why not pick out a card that sings? Or one featuring a character that dances? After all, nothing says “Happy Birthday” like a cartoon giraffe jiving to a funky tune!

Customize and Personalize

Adding a personal touch to your e-card is like adding sprinkles on top of an ice cream sundae. It just makes it so much better! Many e-card platforms are the digital equivalent of a craft shop. You’ll find them packed with options to personalize your greeting.

You might be able to throw in a photo from that hilarious beach trip. Some allow video content—a perfect use of that clip of the family dog ‘singing.’

How about a soundtrack of your friend’s favorite 80s hit? Just imagine their surprise and laughter upon opening an e-card that bursts into a chorus of “Eye of the Tiger” with their picture on a boxing champion’s body!

Group Greetings

Organizing a group e-card is like herding cats. Wait… On second thought, it’s actually easier. Whether it’s for a colleague’s farewell or a friend’s birthday, getting everyone to contribute their messages on an e-card is easy.

For example, an e-card could become a mini roast for a party celebrating a co-worker’s retirement. Each colleague could add a funny anecdote or a light-hearted jab. It’s a wonderful way to show someone how many people care (and are willing to poke fun at them).

E-Card Design Challenge

Why not unleash your inner digital Picasso this “Send An Electronic Greeting Card Day”? Challenge yourself or your friends to create the most outlandish, heartwarming, or hilarious e-card.

That might be a hilarious comic strip detailing the adventures of a superhero dog. Or maybe it’s a mini-animation of a dancing taco. Let your creativity run wild.

And please remember to flaunt your masterpiece on social media with #SendAnElectronicGreetingCardDay. Let the world see your digital doodles!

E-Card Treasure Hunt

Transform “Send An Electronic Greeting Card Day” into a digital scavenger hunt. Send your loved ones a series of e-cards. Each message will contain a clue leading to the next.

The final e-card could reveal a surprise Zoom party. Or maybe it would be an announcement of your next travel destination. It’s like a digital breadcrumb trail. But leaving bread behind is messy. So instead of bread, it’s made of laughter and anticipation!

Facts About Send an Electronic Greeting Card Day

Early Web Experiments Paved the Way for E‑Cards

One of the first widely known web-based greeting systems was “The Electric Postcard,” created in 1994 at the MIT Media Lab by researcher Judith Donath.

It let users choose an image and message, then sent the recipient a link by email, a clever workaround at a time when many mail servers could not handle image attachments.

Within its first year, the project reportedly handled tens of thousands of cards, demonstrating that people were eager to use the young World Wide Web for personal, emotional communication rather than just technical or academic content.

E‑Cards Helped Popularize the Animated GIF

The humble animated GIF, invented in 1987, did not become a mainstream cultural phenomenon until the 1990s, when dial‑up users needed tiny files that could add motion and emotion to otherwise static web pages.

Early e‑card services embraced GIFs because their small file size and looping animations worked even over slow connections, helping spread everything from dancing animals to sparkling “Happy Birthday” messages and turning GIFs into a standard visual language of online emotion.

Digital Greetings Reflect a Broader Shift to Online Social Support

Psychology research on computer‑mediated communication has found that meaningful support and intimacy can be conveyed through digital messages, not just face‑to‑face contact.

Studies show that people who regularly use email and online messaging to keep in touch often report stronger perceived social support and reduced feelings of isolation, especially when they live far from friends and family.

Well‑timed digital greetings tap into this effect by reinforcing social bonds with low effort but high emotional value.

E‑Cards Drastically Reduce Material Use Compared With Paper Cards

Traditional paper greeting cards require cardstock, inks, envelopes, and transportation, which adds up when billions are exchanged annually worldwide. Life‑cycle assessments of paper products show that pulping, printing, and shipping are major contributors to their carbon footprint.

Electronic greetings avoid most of these material and transport impacts, consuming only server energy and device power, which makes them a substantially lower‑resource option for sending messages, especially at large scales.

Online Greetings Ride the Global Growth of Digital Communication

The spread of electronic greeting cards is closely tied to larger trends in global connectivity.

By 2000, roughly 413 million people were using the internet; by 2023 that figure had climbed past 5 billion, with email, messaging apps, and social platforms becoming routine ways to mark birthdays, holidays, and milestones.

As fixed‑line mail volumes decline in many developed countries, digital messages have become a primary channel for social rituals that used to depend almost entirely on physical cards and letters.

Personalized Messages Are Remembered Better Than Generic Ones

Communication research suggests that highly personalized messages, which reference shared experiences or tailor content to the recipient, are processed more deeply and remembered longer than generic greetings.

When a sender customizes wording, imagery, or humor, recipients are more likely to perceive the message as sincere and relationship‑affirming, which helps strengthen interpersonal ties whether the greeting arrives on paper or through a screen.

Send an Electronic Greeting Card Day FAQs

What is the difference between an electronic greeting card and a regular email message?

An electronic greeting card is typically created using a specialized service or app that provides predesigned layouts, artwork, animations, and often music, which the sender customizes with a short message.

A regular email is usually plain text or simple HTML that the sender formats themselves and is not built around a “card-like” experience.

E‑card services focus on visual design, timing of delivery, and interactive elements, while email focuses on open-ended communication and information sharing.

Do electronic greeting cards actually help people feel more connected?

Research on digital communication suggests that even brief, low-effort messages can increase feelings of social connection when people perceive them as personal and thoughtful.

Studies of “check-in” messages and short notes show that recipients consistently underestimate how much these gestures will mean to others, while senders underestimate their positive impact.

An electronic greeting card that includes a personal note or reference to shared experiences tends to strengthen social bonds in a similar way to a short letter or postcard, especially when it arrives unexpectedly rather than in response to an obligation.

Are e‑cards more environmentally friendly than paper greeting cards?

Electronic greeting cards avoid paper, printing, and physical transport, so they generally have a much smaller environmental footprint per message than a mailed paper card.

Paper cards require fiber, water, inks, packaging, and shipping, which all contribute to carbon emissions and waste.

Digital greetings still use energy and data infrastructure, but estimates of the carbon footprint of an average email suggest it is tiny compared with the lifecycle emissions of a physical product sent through the mail.

From an environmental perspective, sending an e‑card is typically considered the lower-impact choice, especially at scale.

Are there privacy or security risks when sending electronic greeting cards?

Electronic greeting cards can pose privacy and security risks if they come from untrusted sources or require recipients to click unknown links.

Malicious actors have used fake e‑card notifications to deliver phishing messages or malware.

Users are advised to avoid opening e‑cards that request personal information, ask for passwords or payments, or come from unknown senders.

Security agencies recommend verifying the sender’s identity, hovering over links to check their destination, and keeping devices and antivirus software updated when interacting with digital greetings.

How do cultural differences influence the style and content of electronic greeting cards?

Cultural norms strongly influence how people design and interpret greetings, whether digital or on paper.

In some cultures, people prefer formal language, modest designs, and conservative colors for many occasions, while others favor bold colors, humor, and direct emotional expressions.

Research on cross-cultural communication shows that high-context cultures often rely more on shared background and subtle cues, so images and phrases may be more symbolic, whereas low-context cultures tend to use more explicit wording.

When sending an e‑card across cultures, it is beneficial to consider local holidays, color symbolism, humor norms, and levels of formality to avoid misunderstandings.

What accessibility features should be considered when choosing or creating an electronic greeting card?

Accessible electronic greeting cards should use high-contrast color combinations, readable fonts, and clear text that is not embedded only in images.

For people who use screen readers, images and animations should include alternative text that describes the main content, and audio elements should not autoplay at a high volume or without controls.

Web accessibility guidelines also recommend keyboard navigation, captions or transcripts for any spoken content, and avoiding rapid flashing that could trigger photosensitive reactions.

Following widely accepted accessibility standards helps ensure that a broader range of people can enjoy digital greetings.

How long have people been using digital means to send greetings?

The practice of sending greetings electronically began before the web became mainstream, with early experiments in networked communication and computer-mediated messages in the late twentieth century.

As email, bulletin boards, and early online services spread, people started sending seasonal and celebratory messages digitally instead of only through postal mail.

With the launch and growth of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, purpose-built electronic greeting card sites and multimedia email made it easy for anyone with an internet connection to send decorative digital greetings around the world.

Today, that tradition continues through dedicated e‑card platforms, social media, and messaging apps.