From the Department of Facebook Etiquette: It's my birthday today. (Thanks! No, seriously, thanks! When's yours? No way! That's the same day as my aunt, dude...)
Like just about ever other idiot who immigrated to Facebook some time ago, during registration, I dutifully filled in my birth date. That, plus the fact that I am a promiscuous friender—I will accept almost any Friend request—has resulted in a stream of birthday greetings. (A few an hour for the past few days. I'm not *that* popular. Still, it's an interesting phenomenon that I've never experienced.)
So, like, without actually messaging each person back and saying, thanks!, how do you deal with that? My wife suggested updating my status to something like, "Josh says thanks for all the birthday greetings!" But that seems even more vulgar than writing this post.
Signed,
Birthday Baffled,
Mill Valley, CA.
I'm sure more of us would wish you a happy birthday, too, but nerds are anti-social creatures. I think most of us are still watching from the bushes and trying to figure out who this new blogger is. "Stranger. From the outside...."
Kemper
Feb. 12, 2009 14:27:pm
at 14:27:pm
When my baby was born, my wife and I had people congratulating us for days afterward. Neither of us have really done anything to say thanks... because that's a lot of people. I was thinking of making a note or something, but I really don't do all that much on Facebook other than play Scrabble.
Dave
Feb. 12, 2009 14:35:pm
at 14:35:pm
Is this the same Josh Quittner from Business 2.0? Man, I miss that magazine.
Happy Birthday
paxadm
Feb. 12, 2009 17:52:pm
at 17:52:pm
My birthday was Feb. 10th, so I recently asked the same question. I answered it by doing what you referred to as vulgar: I updated my status -- on Twitter, too. Why? Because the 60+ "Happy Birthday"s typed to me in messages, tweets or on my wall add up to a lot of time and effort that pretty much counteract any joy that's supposed to be brought by the act of giving someone congratulations on their birthday. Am I thankful for those messages? Totally! They made my day! But the people who will hear back from me directly are the ones I am closest to -- not the friend-of-a-friend who I met once at a party.
I've been on FB since 2005, and it did start with a tedious "Thanks!" (followed by an obligatory "how are you") to everyone who said "have a great day". But now I feel like there's more of an "understanding" when it comes to wall messages. That being said, I still like to get back to as many people as I can before it becomes an annoying task on the to-do list.
debrathiegs
Feb. 13, 2009 11:56:am
at 11:56:am
Though I'm very confused by the new blogger, I think I like him better than Matt, to be honest. His blogs are actually about nerdy stuff, and not just "nobody-else-gives-a-crap Simpsons news."
Anyway, welcome to Nerd World.
walkinghbomb
Feb. 14, 2009 11:12:am
at 11:12:am