Birthdays in the Age of Facebook

I've been on Facebook for a few years now, and I continue to be amazed by the phenomenon of birthday wishes via wall posts on the social network.  Others have written about it from their own perspective, but I have to share my own thoughts -- I think it's pretty darn cool.  It doesn't replace face-to-face conversations or voice-to-voice phonecalls, but I still find it heartfelt and sincere when people take time out of their busy schedules to write a few words to let you know they're thinking of you. It means a lot to me.

If users share the date on their profile, Facebook reminds you of their birthdays in case you've forgotten (or never knew the date to begin with).  It then only takes a few seconds to express your sentiment.  It can be overwhelming if you've "friended" a lot of people, but for an attention whore like me it's fantastic as messages start streaming in the day and night before and then last from sunrise to sunset -- and some belated birthday wishes usually keep trickling in a day or two after the fact.  Social media have enabled us to see in real-time the displays of affection from our friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, aquaintances, and anyone else you might know and happen to be connected with.

There's some privacy concerns, of course, so I choose not to put my exact year of birth online or correct people all the time when they mistake how old I am, but paranoia aside, reading all the messages the past few years on my birthday have added an extra bit of warmth to my aging heart. 

The more it connects us, the more it seems sometimes that New Media make life impersonal, and some argue that the closer they bring us the more distant we're really becoming from each other.  To a degree, the jaded critics have a point.  Being an eternal optimist (for the most part), I look at the bright side and value hearing from people I care about.  I cherish having any excuse to exchange a few words with them and hopefully build upon that communication, however brief it might be.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to give me a shout out.  I appreciate it.