Here's my card

UNITED STATES: Millions of people stay in contact with business partners through social networking sites. But when you're meeting someone for the first time, your business card is still king.

Office-supply stores including Staples and Office Depot report that they are selling more business cards than ever. Despite apps for mobile phones that let people transfer contact information electronically, such as Bump, people prefer paper. Creators of alternatives to business cards “are trying to solve a problem that nobody wants solved,” says Peter Corbett, of iStrategyLabs, a digital marketing firm in Washington, DC.

Business people — as well as job seekers, singles at parties, and mothers at playgrounds — favour the quick and effective method of exchanging cards with pre-printed contact information, even if this means they must later type the details into a database, or scan them in with a card reader or smartphone.

Despite electronic alternatives to cards, people prefer paper.

Business cards represent a familiar standard, and at the same time can be a way of displaying one's individual taste. People can be creative with colours, pictures and fonts to present a small piece of their personality along with the card. As Rob Schlacter, vice president of quality and business services for Staples, told The Washington Post, “Even today, people still love seeing their name in print.”