London, Apr 20: According to a new research, the interest and the skill of writing letters is slowly dying out due to increased habits of emailing and texting.

As the number of people who communicate electronically increases, only less than half of 50-year-olds now write personal letters by hand, compared to more than seven in ten 70-year-olds, a survey for Saga magazine found.

The survey also found that 21 per cent for these people not write did not appreciate written notes or letters either.However 45 pc of them found handwritten notes 'emotionally fulfilling'.

"Letters are valuable because a great deal of personal thought goes into writing them. And they can be financially rewarding with considerable value to archivists, historians and at auction," the Telegraph quoted Emma Soames, the editor-at-large of Saga magazine, as saying.

But love letters still continue to be valued, with 62 per cent of respondents preferring to receive a love letter by post rather than by email, which was favoured by seven per cent, or by text message, preferred by three per cent.

Further, the survey has warned that future biographies may not be comprehensive because electronic messages are more easily lost or destroyed than the collections of paper letters that authors have traditionally relied on.

ANI