emailSanta.com
emailSanta.com is a Christmas-themed entertainment website that claims to allow children to send emails to the legendary character Santa Claus and receive a computer-generated response from the website.[1][2] It also provides various other Christmas-themed simulations.
History[edit]
Founding and creation[edit]
emailSanta.com was started in 1997 by Alan Kerr. Kerr started the website after a strike by Canada Post workers prevented his niece and nephews from sending letters to Santa Claus, which are replied to by volunteers at Canada Post.[3][4] During the first two weeks of the site's existence, emailSanta received over 1,000 emails.[5][6]
In 2000, a "Santa Tracker" feature was added to the site, allowing users to simulate the tracking of Santa year-round, similar to NORAD Tracks Santa provided by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Google Santa Tracker by Google. The site also features a blog and various other Christmas-themed games and apps.[7][8]
The website is available in several languages.[9][10]
The website was incorporated in Alberta, Canada as emailSanta.com Inc. in 2011. Individuals and entities in 26 different countries have been involved in creating emailSanta.com.[7]
Decline[edit]
In a 2021 letter to the Search Engine Journal, Kerr noted the declining traffic of his website. He wrote that his website was historically "rewarded with #1 positions for very competitive keywords using only white hat methods" and that his website "once – briefly – beat out [the] Google [Santa Tracker] and NORAD [Tracks Santa]", but that "the site’s ranking and organic traffic has been falling hard these past two years" and that "the drop possibly happened in March 2019".[11]
Website[edit]
Users compose their letter by filling in blank fields.[12][13] Information submitted includes the user's first name, gender, age and city.[14]
The website then simulates the process of the email being sent and then compiles an immediate and personalized reply to the sender based on the user's input. The reply, despite being claimed to have been written by Santa Claus himself, is automatically generated server-side using an ASP script written by Kerr.[15][16][7] Optionally, the user can request to "see Santa live," in which case a video recording of an actor's portrayal of Santa would be shown to the user before the reply letter is shown, simulating a video call with Santa.
From the website's inception, children whose letters contained pleas for help were directed to a special web page on the site listing online resources for assistance and counselling helplines. In dire circumstances, police have been contacted.[17]
Criticism[edit]
On Christmas Eve in 2013, Nicholas Tufnell from Wired stated that "[t]he design leaves a lot to be desired (it's very late 1990s) but it's perfectly functional". He tried sending an email on the website and stated that "[t]he response [from Santa] is pleasant enough, if a little vague. It may excite children, but we're not convinced. 'What a nice surprise Nicholas!' ... 'Thank you for sending me your email all the way from London! Mrs. Claus and I always go to see the big tree lighting in Trafalger [sic] Square.' We don't believe him." He stated that the email was coming across as "obsequious" and that "if a 4-year-old had the vocabulary, I'm sure he or she would say the same", and he also noted the misspelling of "Trafalgar". He commented that the website's practice of having Santa type out "*wink*" in emails was "unsettling". Additionally, he stated that the Santa character in the email "gets far too energetic after reciting our gift requests".[14]
Impact on popular culture[edit]
Prior to the Internet, letters to Santa were traditionally delivered by post. Tanya Gulevich, in her Encyclopedia of Christmas and New Years Celebrations wrote:
In 1997 postal workers all over the [U.S.] reported the first decline ever in the numbers of letters sent to Santa Claus at Christmas time... No one knows why so many kids all at once lost interest in writing letters to Santa. Perhaps they suddenly discovered e-mail.[18][19][20]
References[edit]
- ^ Newsweek Staff (November 28, 2004). "How do you E-Mail the Big Man?". Newsweek.
- ^ Brownell, Matt (22 December 2011). "The Best Ways to Get a Hold of Santa". TheStreet.
- ^ Depalma, Anthony (November 26, 1997). "Weeklong Postal Workers' Strike Snarls Deliveries in Canada". New York Times.
- ^ Braid, Don (December 8, 1998). "Internet Santa rekindles magic". The Calgary Sun. p. 4.
- ^ "Meet the People Who Respond to Emails to Santa Claus". www.vice.com. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
- ^ Baird, Kirk (December 13, 2004). "He's Got Mail: Kids find that e-mailing Santa is more fun than using snail mail". Las Vegas Sun.
- ^ a b c Ribeiro, Ricky. "EmailSanta.com: How Santa Claus Went Digital". BizTech Magazine.
- ^ Rueb, Emily S. (December 21, 2019). "Trying to Reach the North Pole? Check Your Wi-Fi". New York Times.
- ^ Braid, Don (December 20, 1999). "Kids heat up the Internet to feel Santa's magic". The Calgary Sun.
- ^ Anderson, Lucia (December 16, 2003). "St. Nick busy with e-mails to kids". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ Wright, Tony (2021-12-08). "Is Google Trying To Erase Santa? The Curious Case Of EmailSanta.com". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
- ^ Biederman, Marcia (November 20, 2003). "Who's That Man At the Keyboard?". New York Times.
- ^ Scott, Bonnie (December 6, 1998). "Media Mom: Kids can visit Santa". Knight Ridder News Service. United States.
- ^ a b Tufnell, Nicholas. "Don't email Santa, it's disappointing". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
- ^ "This is how my kids email Santa and get a reply. And it's free". Mamamia. December 8, 2017.
- ^ "PersonPlaceThing-EmailSanta.com". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. December 24, 2004. p. L3. ProQuest 1368502444.
- ^ "Calgary Santa receives wishes and cries for help in emails from around the world". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
- ^ Gulevich, Tanya. "Children's Letters". Encyclopedia of Christmas & New Year's Celebrations (2nd ed.). Detroit: Omnigraphics. p. 109.
- ^ Harding, Margaret (December 23, 2009). "Letters to Santa dwindle, but kids still have Christmas spirit". TribLIVE.
- ^ McUsic, Teresa (December 17, 2004). "How the Web saved Christmas". Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas.