Staying Connected with The Facebook Birthday Feature

Last week was my Birthday.  Another trip around the sun completed as a friend likes to say.

One of the cool features of Facebook is that it tells you that it is your friends birthday. I use it nearly everyday to send my friends a birthday greeting and initiate a conversation.  If I’m planning ahead, I’ll even pay attention to the weekly email I receive that tells me who is going to be celebrating in the next 7 days.

Do I care that I get wished Happy Birthday by gobs of people?  Not really.

But wait.

Because I have other motives, relationship motives.

If a person pushes the buttons on Facebook to wish me a Happy Birthday, and on their birthday, I do the same, that’s two opportunities every year to start a conversation.  A chance to connect, see how the other person is doing, find out what’s new, and so on…

About 1/2 way through my birthday I stopped counting but more than 25% of my Facebook friends had wished me a Happy Birthday either online, in person or via email or some other social media site.   I took the time to thank each and everyone of them (I hope) and by doing so, I renewed the connection.

That’s what this social media stuff is all about anyway.  Relationships and Connections.  Those of us who also use social media professionally call it engagement.

My advice to you today is simple.  Get on Facebook and make sure your birthday is public so others can wish you a Happy Birthday and do the same for others.