Your Birthday Will Be Different This Year

Okay, so I've been away but now I'm back and figured I should start writing again.  There is a Very Long Story on why I haven't been blogging that perhaps I'll write a post on someday (but not today).

Has anyone noticed that this year everyone knows your birthday?  If you haven't had a birthday, you'll see what I mean shortly.  2008 is The Year That Everyone Remembers Your Birthday.  Just wait.  You'll see.  Between LinkedIn and Facebook (and probably some other things that I don't even recognize) everyone knows, which created a new experience for me yesterday (which was my Birthday).

So in actuality, my birthday was spent on an airplane flying from SFO to New York so I could attend a meeting at Google New York City the next day, and generally was not that eventful because I was away from my friends and family.  But I did make a new friend as I sat next to a woman on the plane named Erica Sandberg who happens to be a writer and wrote a book that sounds pretty interesting given that I'm a parent of young children.  She needs a blog (and I told her so) but then I'm barely a blogger so what do I know?  But if you are reading this, maybe you should visit her site and tell her she needs a blog and then maybe she'll start writing one. 

But what's interesting is that I must have received 50 emails from various people (some friends, some not so much) wishing me Happy Birthday yesterday.  Which, you would think, wouldn't mean very much because half the people I barely know.  Except that it made me feel good all day as each little note trickled in.  And really it was a combination of emails (I think these were from the LinkedIn connections) and a multitude of people who wrote on my FaceBook Wall.    I think it was the collective birthday wishes actually were somehow additive in nature.   So, like 10 somewhat random birthday wishes is equal to one really thoughtful but cheap gift from a close friend in terms of my psyche.  (Or something like that.)  Which is an interesting economy in a world where we are all more connected.

So even though you wouldn't think that one little email saying Happy Birthday would create a human connection in today's day and age (it is just another email after all), it really did.

I wonder what next year will bring? 

Comments

[Jenny Blake]

And then people read your blog and wish you happy birthday way beyond when your birthday actually occurred. Happy Belated Birthday Jason!

[Tiffany Monhollon]

Hm. It must be that my still antiquated sense of attempting to preserve some bit of privacy despite the fact that I have identity theft insurance is what hampered me from experiencing this a few weeks ago. And it was a funny thing, because since I don't have my birthday plastered on all my public accounts like LinkedIn or Facebook, I didn't get many e-wishes from much of anybody.

And it bummed me out, even if it was just a little. I didn't really think about it until I read this post, but I think my lack of birthday messages probably solidifies your conclusion as well. So maybe it's time to go more public, huh?

By the by, I just found your blog through Penelope Trunk and am enjoying it so far. Hopefully the Very Long Story about why you haven't been writing as much lately won't replicate itself so I can keep enjoying the insights.

[Bill Wolfe]

Hey Jason, well now I just feel bad. I only got about 10 random happy birthday emails on my birthday. 50...wow dude, you're one popular guy :)

Give me a call, we need to catch up.

[Alise Cortez]

Hey Jason, guess what?! I've "tagged" you. Check out our blog to see what I mean: http://improvedexperience.typepad.com/