Did You Write Happy Birthday …
… on Facebook today. I did. In fact, I wrote it for five people. I wrote slightly different messages for each person, and especially customized my messages for those I know the best. On the other hand, for those I didn’t know as well, my message was much less custom. I didn’t have anything funny or exciting to write. And finally, there was one person whose wall I didn’t write on yet. I told myself I’d go back and figure it out later. So what does this all really mean?
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about happy birthday message on Facebook. This is especially true in business school, where the number of Facebook friends is higher than ever before. Not only do you get “Friends” from classes but you also find alumni, significant others, professors, and friends of classmates who become friends. And then you mix in the JD-MBA program.
But how can you write happy birthday to all of them?
That’s the million dollar question. Today it’s still “fairly” easy with my current set of “friends” but it’s not seamless. And at some point, it might get difficult. One day, maybe impossible. And if I want to ensure that it’s not impossible then I’ll have to become more standard and less creative. It’s the only way you handle 25 birthday messages in a day, let alone 30 or 40.
On the other hand, what if you don’t write on their Wall at all. Does it matter? Will they know you didn’t write and secretly remember in person. Will they decide not to write on your wall if they see you on your birthday? And even worse, will they de-friend you on Facebook?
I don’t know the answer to these questions. In fact, I hadn’t thought of any of them until today, while I was writing this post. But what I do know is that Facebook is becoming busier than ever before. And the average number of “Friends” is increasing more than ever before. At some point, we’ll all have to decide how busy we want to become. And when we should unplug? Or perhaps even pull the plug entirely?
The more friends you have, the more likely it is to eventually happen.
