Social Media Experiment
 

Hey cellar,

I did a little social media experiment today. I changed my birthday on Facebook to August 2nd (yesterday) and had it public view for everyone....Even though my birthday is Februrary 2nd...51 of my friends wrote on my wall and were fooled into thinking it was my birthday.

I don't know what to say about my generation, but I proved that many many young adults are so reliant, so tuned into to social mediums and social networking like Twitter, Tumblr, MySpace, Facebook, etc...that they don't really get to know the real people behind the webpage!

Social media is a good way to stay in touch with friends afar, but I won't forget to still get to know the people around me.

Happy birthday, freshnesschronic!

I'm not sure you're being totally fair here Fresh. As a rule, dudes don't remember birthdays, your Facebook gave them a way to remember...

If it's on the innerwebz it must be true, so....
LOL and haggis!

I think it says more about what you define as a "friend." The real question is, of those 51, were any of them relatives, or one of your top 3 best friends?

I have an awful time remembering things like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. (even though I clearly lack my own penis) so, I admit to being one of "this generation" who is "completely dependent upon electronic media" and whatnot.

Cause I'm totally sure that before the internet, people just completely memorized every detail about their friends lives. No one wrote that stuff in a calendar or date book to remind them, ever.

PS, fresh... while you're angry at our generation...how many of the numbers that are saved in your cell phone do you KNOW without looking?


PPS, I don't know why I got so rant-y in this post... don't mind me

Important life lesson learned early, through your "social media experiment". Nobody really gives a fuck about your birthday, unless there's something in it for them, like an excuse to get drunk.

A lot of times, that is the only way that I know someones birthday. The important ones are stored in my phone.

Since before I was born, my super-organised mother has had a calendar up in the kitchen with everyone's birthday on it. And when I say everyone... okay, not Dwellars, but pretty much anyone else she has ever met. And their children, as well as anniversaries of both marriage and death.

Mum still has a better memory for these things than I do, but if I wanted to mess with her head I could change a couple of dates in her 2011 calendar when she gets it. As long as it's not immediate family she really wouldn't know any better.

I remember important birthdays with no reminder. I just get mixed up on the dates sometimes. My parents, siblings, Grandad - I got. My bro's DOB used to be my "memorable date" when I had a telebanking account. The 'rents and siblings anniversaries - less so - I know the month and the approx date. I lie - it's only my sister's I'm really unsure of. My niece, yes - she's at the end of a month, so as long as I know the month (I do) I'm okay. My nephew's no - it's an odd number with two digits. I know the month but need reminding of the date. My BIL and SIL - not a hope. Both in a warm month I think. BIL, June? SIL, August? I need reminding.

And THAT is family!

The weird thing is a remember precisely the DOB for the man who broke my heart.
But not one of my oldest friends.
I guess the painful things stick in your head more...?

It seems to me that it is somewhat unreasonable to expect over 50 people to know your birthday, let alone be so certain of it that they'll say you got your own birthday wrong on your Facebook page.

It's just the egocentrism of youth. When you get to be my age, you don't care if anyone remembers your birthday or not. ;)

That wasn't the experiment, just the set-up. The experiment is when you do it again in three months.

Hey freshnesschronic, did they send along any b'day gifts?

:lol:


DO IT!


Over three weeks, post that you've become Baptist, then socialist, then gay. See who notices.

If it weren't for Facebook, I wouldn't know when anyone's (except my immediate family and maybe 3 other people) birthday is... If it weren't for my cell phone, I wouldn't know what anyone's phone number is (except my parents and friends from high school's parents' houses)... But if I didn't HAVE these tools, I would keep an address book and birthday calendar. It's not a matter of me not actually "knowing" my Facebook contacts (although I don't actually know all of them), it's just that tools of technology have updated the way people keep track of things.

A friend changing his/her birthday on Facebook is the same to me as that person coming over to my house and changing it in a handwritten contact book or calendar. I wouldn't expect my friends to remember my birthday... I know hundreds of people and there are hundreds of days in the year, so I don't take it personally that people might need help remembering. If Facebook is that tool, that's OK with me...