Ecards are a relatively new phenomenon in the Internet world, having come on the scene in 1995. This development changed the way in which we shop for greeting cards and how we send them to friends and family. They are accessible to anyone who uses the Internet and as long as the recipient has an email address you can send a card to any person you wish.

The first such cards were limited to nature and wildlife photos, and ecards for Valentine’s Day were the first ones that really offered online greetings for a special occasion. While there are sites where you can get these greeting cards without having to pay for them, but most sites do charge a user or a subscription fee. These are the sites where you get the widest selection of ecards to choose from.

For those who have no idea about ecards, these are digital greeting cards. You don’t need to purchase an actual card and send it in the mail. You simply search for a card online and attach it to a message or just send the ecard where the message says everything you want it to say. Now if you forget a friend’s birthday or anniversary or any occasion, you can send birthday ecards () or an anniversary ecard on that day and no one will even know that you only remembered at the last minute. It takes only a few minutes to have everything in place, which means you don’t have to pop out during your lunch break to search for the perfect card.

Ecards are environmentally friendly, which is one of the reasons they are gaining in popularity. There is no paper involved and the carbon footprint of ecard businesses is significantly less than that of traditional greeting card businesses. There is no paper used in the final product at all. Since they are digital, you can choose an ecard to send to only one recipient or you can have many recipients that receive the same email message containing the ecard.

To choose a greeting card of this nature, you simply choose a site that has a wide selection of ecards () to choose from. Once you make your choice of graphics for the cover of the card, then you can personalize the message to send to the recipient. Depending on the site you use, you can also further personalize the ecard with a photo or a video. Then you specify the email address to which you want to send the card and the website takes over sending the digital card to the person for you.

You don’t have to purchase any software in order to send ecards, nor do you need to have any special attachments for your computer. The site from which you choose the card does all the work for you. You just have to follow the instructions to create exactly what you want. If you make a mistake, you can clear the screen and start over.

One thing you do have to be wary about when sending ecards and that is the privacy of your email address and that of the person to whom you are sending the card. The site you choose is privy to two email addresses each time you send an ecard and this could open both of you up to spammers. If you don’t want to start receiving all kinds of spam mail because you send an ecard, read the privacy statement of the site before you start sending digital content.