MY mum and I regularly exchange letters. She may be 88, but she still has her wicked sense of humour so the ‘letter’ is actually written in a funny birthday card.

She tells me about the whist drives she’s been to, what she’s been doing in her garden and any other tittle tattle from the village she lives in up north.

Her missives also include a variety of newspaper cuttings from both national papers and the one I edited up there for 12 years.

They’re usually gems of interest – apart from one out of the local paper which was of me winning a cycle race. It had been published on the ‘days gone by’ page and I was pretty miffed. Mum thought it was a hoot.

My letters fill her in on things I’ve been doing in life and also include cuttings. It keeps us in touch with each other between visits.

However, I suspect – sadly – that letter writing in this vein is a dying art.

The world of communications has moved on – and very rapidly in recent years. Even texting on mobile phones, with its own strange form of the English language, is getting left behind by the social networking sites.

The realms of MySpace, YouTube and Facebook have captured the virtual imagination. With this computer equivalent of letter writing you can stay in touch with friends and family, post messages for them and exchange photos and videos. All at the press of the button.

But don’t go thinking I’m a Luddite, I have embraced this brave new world.

However, it hasn’t ended there. For the latest phenomenon to enter the arena is called Twitter. It was actually launched three years ago, but I suspect a rather infamous incident involving Demi Moore has sparked a sudden surge in its growth.

Her bikini-bottomed derriere while she was bending over was snapped by husband Ashton Kutcher and linked to his Twitter page with the words: “Shhh! Don’t tell wifey”

She responded on her Twitter page: “He is such a sneak – and while I was steaming his suit too.”

The racy photo made the national press and Twitter gathered invaluable publicity. In March it was reported that its growth had outstripped all other community websites turning in a staggering rise of 1382%.

Twitter unquestionably has a valid place in the world of communication. It can fire one-liners to your mobile phone, Blackberry and laptop alerting you to various pieces of information.

It’s why the Bucks Free Press has launched its own Twitter page to tip off its followers about breaking news and if they want to read more they can go online to our website.

However most of the Twitter pages are set up by individuals who want to let their friends know what’s going on in their lives – and it has also been embraced by celebrities and sports stars.

For instance cyclist Lance Armstrong now has 802,995 followers and tells them everything ranging from his training rides, taking his kids to school and even a bit of a bust-up with someone over a piece of art.

Of course some celebs have been rumbled. Their Twitter pages are actually being run by their agents to keep the fans hooked.

Below this, however, is a world of the banal, mundane and uninteresting. Something along the following lines.

7.40 Let the cat out.

7.43 Let the cat back in – wish it’d make up its mind.

7.48 Let the cat out again, this is driving me nuts.

7.56 Made a cup of tea, gosh I’m thirsty.

7.57 Spilt the milk, let the cat back in to clean up the mess.

8.10 Sat down by the patio door with my cuppa and a book. The sun is warm already

8.58 Woke up ….

If you don’t believe me, check some of them out.

Frankly its community communication going a step too far in most cases. No wonder that 60% of the Twitter pages started up become dormant after a month. Indeed you wonder about some of this internet stuff. A report at the weekend revealed that more than 95% of the blogs created aren’t read by anyone other than their creators.

Letter writing feels distinctly Stone Age in comparison to all this high tech stuff, but at least I know mum reads my letters – I think.