"Proper Does Not Mean Popular"

This morning was spent helping the children write quite a few Thank You notes to family and friends. I have always tried to get them written propmtly, sometimes successfully and sometimes not; and sometimes not at all. Yet I continue to strive ....While the children were seated 'round the schoolroom table writing their notes -- MOM, YOU DO KNOW THAT NO ONE WRITES THANK YOU NOTES ANYMORE ? Then several children stated that they had NEVER received a Thank You note, nor could they recall seeing one come in the mail EXCEPT from Great Grandmommy (of course !). The only Thank You notes they recall ever seeing were the ones THEY have written themselves. So we discussed that propriety is not always popular. My stance has always been that if a certain person thought enough of you to send a gift or to do something special with (or for) you, they well deserve a proper handwritten Thank You. None of the children ever objected to the writing of the notes, but were rather stating an opinion. And all of the notes were written just as I asked (and in some cases, pictures were drawn instead) .... yet I am left wondering ....
Does anyone write Thank You notes anymore ??? And if not, did this habit get lost with the advent of telephones ? Living closer to one another ? The invention of computers, and eventually email ? Or is this "loss" just another thing to add to the list of things lost by our society, most of which seem to have been in the areas of "manners" and "propriety" ??

Or perhaps I am a Victorian caught in Modern Times ??