There's one type of message that WhatsApp doesn't know how to send: the kind that's only meant to arrive a year from now. A letter written today for yourself to open on your next birthday, a note for a child to read when they turn 18, a declaration scheduled to drop exactly at midnight on the right date.<\/p>\n
This exists, it's free on most services, and it takes five minutes to set up. What changes everything is understanding what happens to your card during the interval.<\/b> \u2014 because writing is the easy part; making sure it gets through is where almost everyone slips up.<\/p>\n It could be tomorrow, on the person's birthday, or in ten years. The service saves the message and sends it automatically at the scheduled time.<\/p><\/div><\/div> This is the most popular use of the format. You write to who you will be a year from now, and you receive a photograph of who you were today.<\/p><\/div><\/div> Unlike anonymous messages sent via link, here you define exactly who receives them. This completely changes the risk involved.<\/p><\/div><\/div> A letter scheduled for ten years depends on the company remaining in business. That's the only real risk of the format\u2014and it can be overcome.<\/p><\/div><\/div> Because it reverses the logic of instant messaging. Everything we send today is designed to be read in seconds and forgotten in minutes. A dated letter is written knowing it will be read by someone else\u2014even if that person is yourself, a year older than you.<\/p>\n Isso muda o que se escreve. Ningu\u00e9m programa uma carta para dizer “oi, tudo bem?”. A dist\u00e2ncia no tempo obriga a dizer alguma coisa que valha a espera, e \u00e9 exatamente a\u00ed que est\u00e1 o valor do formato.<\/p>\n
\nYou choose the delivery date.<\/h3>
\nA letter to yourself<\/h3>
\nChosen recipient, not random.<\/h3>
\nThe blind spot: the service needs to exist up front.<\/h3>
\n<\/div>\n<\/i><\/span>See how to schedule delivery.<\/span><\/a>\nWhy a dated letter works so well<\/h2>\n