Being that I am writing on my very own blog, which is in and of itself a form of social media, I am already off to a rough start with this entry, but I'm determined to make a point. Of course the arrival of social media has been terrific for most industries and if your company hasn't benefited in some way, shape or form- get with the program. It's free for crying out loud.
Anyway, I celebrated yet another lovely birthday today and now that the day is coming to a close, I cannot help but comment on how social media such as online networks (not naming names but FACEBOOK comes to mind) are truly destroying any real attempts at actually keeping in touch with people- the old fashioned way. Of course this is hypocritical because I love Facebook -- not as much as those who have been on since it first started, but I do participate nowadays and enjoy it -- but I must say that being that this is my first birthday with Facebook, it has been a truly eye-opening experience. I have had people coming out of the woodwork- as I like to put it- to wish me a Happy Birthday. I have thanked all of these people on multiple occasions- or in one swooping status update- but still- it is greatly appreciated.
H-O-W-E-V-E-R
There is one small detail that these commentors (not sure if that's a word or not but let's just go with it) are more than likely unaware of. That is the fact that I am probably the biggest birthday lover of all time. This year I have pulled the 'annoying girl who celebrates her birthday for more than just the one day but the full week' move and had parties on the weekends before and after my birthday. I attribute this solely to the fact that this year's bday falls on a lame Wednesday and I mean how much partying can you do on a Wednesday?
Anyway- I'm getting off track. I have a real issue with the lack of personalized birthday wishes- or hell- birthday wishes that resort back to archaic times of sending people regular snail mail, birthday cards and -- dare I say it -- actually picking up the phone and spending the two minutes that it takes to wish someone a Happy Birthday. Where did all of that go?
Now I know that I am playing the forever optimistic- I live in my very own Fantasy World- girl, but seriously. Why has this routine gesture become obsolete? Most of my friends know that I have always been notorious for remembering people's birthdays every year- even before Facebook (if you can remember that). That's not saying that I'm some kind of supernatural being who can only be seen at your local movie theatre every third month, but really. Why has everyone become so accustomed to sending birthday wishes on Facebook or sending emails and texts as opposed to putting in the extra time? The answer is that I do not know.
I will admit, as I did when I first started here- that I am partially guilty of everything I have written about in this entry. But the fact of the matter is, I think we all reach a point in our lives where we have limited our phone conversations completely and we save most, if not all of our socializing for the not so often reunion or seasonal holidays that bring everyone together more naturally.
Again, please do not misunderstand anything I have written here. I truly am very thankful that I have the friends that I have who were nice enough to wish me a happy birthday...I just am always hopeful that the old fashioned birthday wishes will resurface some day and we can all go back to having super cool birthday parties like we did when we were 10 year old. PS- My parents sang Happy Birthday to me when I got home tonight after 10 and we ate oreo cake that my mom bought at the store. It was the most adorable thing ever and I love them for appeasing me for yet another year.
Goodnight everyone!
Please keep in touch...preferably before my next birthday :)
Love,
E
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment