Modern communications mean that it’s no longer necessary to write letters. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Writing letters is not essential for communicating in the present day world. Exchanging one's thoughts and ideas through the medium of writing letter has been an ancient practice, where the only mode of exchanging ideas was to write lengthy letters. With the use of modern technology, and the introduction of internet, the modes of communication have completely changed over the last few decades. In my opinion, this holds true as people have resorted to the use of various other methods and modes of communication to effectively transport ideas from one destination to the other. Gone are those days, when people used to write down long transcripts of paper and send it through telegram and it took an exorbitant amount of time to reach the receiver. Nowadays, they can make use of electronic-mail and communicate effectively and efficiently without wasting much time. This has been made possible with the introduction of internet in the early 90s which has caused a reduction in the usage of postal services. However, letter writing is still prevalent and commonly used, just not in its original sense. Letters are still being used to convey crucial information in the form of formal and informal letters, although electronic mode is preferred instead of paper based content. This has led to the reduction in the usage of paper which has resulted in less deforested areas. To conclude, letter writing will always be used to communicate effective ideas as it was originally intended to do. However, with the use of technology in the modern times, the modes of communication have changed drastically.