We now have a generation of smartphone natives; people who never experienced life without the internet in their pocket. So you might expect handwriting, with a real pen, on physical paper, to have become extinct by now. However, paper republic’s rise shows that’s not the case.
Jérôme Bacquias – founder and CEO of paper republic – reveals why handwritten journalling is making a comeback in an age of digital distraction...
Why are people coming back to handwriting, paper and pens?
Whenever a new technology dominates the world, you get a backlash in the opposite direction. New tech replaces older ones. But they are rarely better in every measure. There is always a compromise. Some good things are inevitably lost, exchanged for convenience or a lower price.
That’s why people still love wood burning stoves even though we have central heating. It’s why vinyl has returned as the biggest selling physical music format, despite the convenience of streaming.
And it’s why, although we have laptops and smartphones, many, many people still use pen and paper to write their diaries and notes by hand. Despite predictions that writing by hand would die out, the market for journals and notepads is in fact, booming.
When handwriting is being dropped from some school curriculums, and many children are typing and swiping instead, why is writing by hand still relevant?
There are certainly fewer people writing by hand on a daily basis, than say, 30 years ago. But people who do write by hand are either writing more, writing better, or writing more thoughtfully when they do it on paper, rather than on a keyboard.
One of the unintended consequences of digital tools, is distraction. There are many wonderful advantages to computers and phones. But we could not have foreseen how distracted we would become when using them. We are under constant assault from pings, pop-ups and notifications.
I don't think the love for handwriting in a journal is purely a backlash against all things digital though. There is just something about the intimacy and permanency of the physical, which the digital does not satisfy.
Taking the vinyl vs streaming example again, though digital music is without doubt more convenient, it is intangible. You cannot pass on your playlist to your kids in the same way you can share your vinyl collection. You can’t browse through records on a shelf, pull out an LP and admire the artwork.
So, in a world now dominated by digital, people just crave something physical?
I think so, yes. It’s not that people especially enjoy writing by hand – it’s what comes with the act of putting pen to paper that people really love. It forces a certain thoughtfulness, without distraction, and this is where people can often do their best, most creative work.
There’s also something about the limitations of paper that help. Writing digitally is unlimited. And in the digital world, too much choice has become the new problem. Who hasn’t spent hours on Netflix scrolling endlessly, trying to find something to watch? The rise of AI-generated content will only make this worse.
So, what many crave are limits; a space where you know where you are. For all these reasons, pen and paper will remain a significant part of many people’s lives.
There is a new South Korean trend called pilsa – where people copy passages from books, writing them out by hand in a journal; obviously handwriting with a pen on paper still has an allure.
Cleary there’s something about the physical practice of using pen and paper, that is lacking with digital devices. Yes, it’s great to be able to cut and paste, change the font, back up your work to the cloud, and run a spell check.
Like every other CEO, I use my laptop and phone daily. But there are obviously other benefits to writing by hand in a journal or notebook, which are not replicated by the digital experience.
There’s space for both. They offer different advantages, depending on what you want to do. I think we are seeing older generations, who grew up writing by hand – rediscover the joy of using a journal. But what’s really fascinating is seeing digital natives, ‘discovering’ pen and paper for the first time; what it’s like to be able to focus on writing or drawing without being bombarded by distractions.
Felix – one of our fabulous customer support team – who is also the man with 50 notebooks, summed this up perfectly in his recent interview:
“Lots of people my age are experiencing problems of sensory overload; the huge amount of information on the internet, the huge numbers of messages you get. It’s very distracting and it causes problems with focus.
So, I think many people are trying to reduce time on the internet, or on social media. Going back to pen and paper is one way of reducing those distractions. Since I showed some of my friends my notebooks, they started using them too.
I think it's the simplicity which we all love. It just feels naturally right. When I write, it makes me feel like I am doing something that is genuinely helping me, rather than wasting time scrolling through junk on my phone.”
And that is why I think pens, paper, and journals are going to be with us for a very long time yet.