As a listed dealer on the APS and ASDA websites, my email address is listed. I get frequent emails from individuals that are setting up websites for stamp collectors to come together. In my experience, many of these sites fade as fast as they come online. I have no doubts that the creators of these sites have grand plans: listing new issues, getting people to write blogs, getting dealers (me) to advertise on their site and offer items for sale.

I don’t respond to any of these requests I get. Sorry, but I feel like all of them are not a productive use of my time. These sites are going away soon anyway. And what have I gained for my involvement? Very little if anything.

The APS once sponsored a contest to have the best stamp collecting video on YouTube. That contest lasted a few years and I haven’t heard anything about it lately. I think the concept died. If you go to the APS website, they have links to online videos about philately. Some of the videos were uploaded years ago. Many of them have dozens of views. Only a few have several hundred views. With a huge membership, almost no one in the APS is watching them. If they are meant to stir interest in philately by the general public, it isn’t happening.

In this age, when an online video goes “viral”, it can generate millions of views in a very short period of time.

I don’t know what causes collectors to have such a low interest in the Internet. Maybe it’s the average age of collector is older and they don’t go online? Maybe the content that is uploaded isn’t of interest to them? I don’t know. I just know that with a few exceptions, any website about stamp collecting just doesn’t last very long.

Maybe as today’s generation becomes older, they will take advantage of more online content. Because today’s generation of school children are being brought up on computers. Both of my daughters had computer class starting in kindergarten. Maybe someone else will one day discover the secret to attracting stamp collectors to online websites. Until now, that has had very limited success.