You may have traded cursive for a smartphone keypad, handwritten notes for digital memes, and a private journal for TikTok confessionals. But while technology has revolutionized communication, handwriting with a pen isn’t going away.
In fact, handwriting is hot – to borrow a concept from Marshall McLuhan, the 20th century thinker and unofficial “Father of Media Studies”. In Understanding Media, McLuhan classified media as either “hot” or “cool” depending on how much sensory participation they demand.
Handwriting? That’s definitely “hot.” When you write by hand, the act engages multiple senses – the touch of pen to paper, the drag of ink, the mental focus of translating thoughts into physical motion. Writing a letter, jotting down a quick note or itemizing your bullet journal isn’t just productive, it’s personal. You’re leaving a unique imprint, a reflection of yourself through the loops and strokes of each individual letter.
Contrast that with tapping out a message on a smartphone, which McLuhan (though he didn’t live to see such a device) might call “cool”. The process is detached, impersonal. The smartphone keypad serves as a tool to translate your thoughts into text, stripping away texture, inflection, and individuality. The fonts look the same, touchscreens feel identical, and the emojis you pick to punctuate your message boil down to the same handful that everyone else uses.
Whether you prefer hot or cold, even in our digital age, these technologies aren’t mutually exclusive. Like going by car or going by bike, you still have the freedom to choose. But just as with the bike and the car, the arrival of a newer technology changes the nature of how and when we use the previous one – it nudges them into new roles.
Take the fountain pen. Once an everyday school essential, it’s now a symbol of refinement, creativity, or deliberate thought. The same goes for branded business pens: they’ve become a tool not just for writing, but for communicating brand identity and values.
Handwriting today serves a purpose that’s complementary, not competitive, to digital tools. It shows care to others, and helps us activate our brains and better process information. And paradoxically, the digital world amplifies the value of the handwritten. When everything is emailed or typed, receiving a handwritten letter becomes an event. Handwritten notes create emotional connections, whether in personal relationships or brand communication. It’s a statement of care in an increasingly automated world.
Instead of lamenting (or overexaggerating) a supposed decline in handwriting, perhaps we should celebrate its transformation. Pens and keypads can coexist, much like physical books and e-readers. Writing by hand becomes a conscious act, a return to something tangible in a world that’s always connected but often feels disconnected.
Handwriting remains, as it has always been: hot, hot, hot. What better way to reconnect with that hot medium than with the timeless act of taking pen to paper? Grab a pen, and as McLuhan might say, see what new messages might emerge from that familiar territory.