I know there’s debate about this, but I like wishing my Facebook friends a happy birthday on their day. What’s an easy way to keep on top of birthdays on Facebook?
I think that the people who complain about birthday wishes from other people on Facebook are just curmudgeons, actually. I mean, would they complain about a birthday wish from a friend who had to have a spouse remind them that it’s your birthday? Or if they had your birthday in their calendar, remind them each year?
Now I will say that there are some services that can automatically wish everyone in your circle a happy birthday and if you’re not even aware that’s going on, well, then it really kind of is a piece of software posting something, not a human being spending even the few seconds it takes to relay a heartfelt wish, so that’s more easily discounted.
Still, however you want to deal with the information, it does turn out to be pretty easy to find out whose birthdays are today on Facebook, though it’s no longer on the home page like it used to be in the “good old days” of the FB user interface.
Instead from your Facebook home page, look on the left for “Events”:
Once you click on it, Facebook will show you a calendar of upcoming events for you, either those you’ve been invited to join or those you’ve already RSVP’d “yes” to.
Interesting, but what you really want is to look on the top right of the Events page, where you’ll see a heads up on whose birthdays are today:
You can see here that my friend Heather and four other people in my Facebook social network have birthdays today. Click on that informational line and you’ll be able to leave them all well wishes in one neat spot:
Sometimes there won’t be a text entry box below their name: that means that they don’t allow others to write on their timeline. In that case, you might need to send them a private message instead. Not a huge crisis.
Either way, I think it’s nice to wish others a happy birthday and certainly welcome well wishes my friends, whether close or new, too.