I grew up in a weird generation. We did not have much advanced technology as children, but as we got older, there was a massive boom in technological developments. When I was in elementary school, my classmates and I were all assigned pen pals. If you’ve never heard of pen pals, they’re basically people you have never met before, but send letters to. We eventually stopped this as we got older. Now, because everything is instant and you can send a message in seconds, we have lost the art of writing letters. That is what I thought until I found the app Slowly.
Slowly is an app that was introduced to me via Twitter. Slowly is a modern day pen pal app where you get to connect with people all over the world and write them letters through the app. However, unlike most social media apps, it actually takes time for Slowly to deliver your electronic letters. Depending on how far their location is from you, it takes a few hours or maybe a couple days to send them. Whenever I was younger and had pen pals, I loved the excitement of waiting for a new letter. I would check my mailbox every day because I was so happy to write to people and have them write me back. This app has definitely taught me how to be patient again, because I actually have to wait for something, instead of getting a response immediately.
On the app, you can set up a cute little avatar for your profile and create a username. Make sure it’s a good one because you can only change it once! You’re also able to show your age, sign and where you are from. The best part of your profile set up, though, is definitely adding the topics you are interested in. It is a way for people to see if you would be a good pen pal based on the things you have in common. Some of the things I have put are my interest in astrology, politics, psychology and writing. Once your profile is created, you have your own ID so people can add you on the app.
There are two ways to write letters: automatic and manual. Automatic is where you are matched with someone completely random. You have no idea where they are from and don’t know any of the things they are into. However, you can set preferences for who you want your letter to go to. These preferences include age, gender identity and topics. This is a good way to make sure the letter doesn’t go to someone who doesn’t share anything in common with you. My suggestion for this mode is to write your letters ambiguously. Since you don’t know anything about them, it is good to introduce yourself and ask some basic questions like what their hobbies are and if they are in school. Manual is the other way to write your letters. You can see profiles from all over the world where you can check all of their sections to make sure you would be a good match. You can also set preferences on who you would like to see so you don’t have to go through so many profiles to find a pen pal. Through this option, you are able to see where they are from, how long it takes for their letters to get to you, their astrology sign, gender identity, age and interests. If you decide to write to them, you just need to click the little blue sign at the bottom of their profile and write away!
Customizing your letter is really fun. Here, you can write about many things. However, I would advise not to share anything too personal. Since this is a letter writing app, you can request for people to send you photos just like you would in a real letter. If you are writing a letter, but have to pause to do something else, no worries! You can save your draft and come back to it later. In the store, you can use your money to buy stamps, but they also have free ones. Stamps are a fun little way to showcase your personality in your letter. My personal favorite is definitely the taurus constellation stamp.
If you are receiving a letter, this app will tell you that there is one incoming letter. If you click that message, it will go to a world map and you will see an envelope at the location where the letter is from. If you click that envelope, it will tell you how much longer you have to wait until your letter arrives and who it is from.
This app is the perfect combination of technology and old methods to communicate with each other. Through Slowly, I have made some new friends that are all over the world. I have a pen pal in Texas, one in Italy and even one in Vietnam, which is where I’m originally from! It’s a great way to pass the time during quarantine. It’s taught me patience and the beauty of getting to know people. I highly suggest this app to anyone who misses connecting with people and wants to put themselves out there. Slowly is the way to go!