20 ms·

"It's Mary's birthday in 3 days - send her a birthday cupcake?" I would probably click "yes" if it's < $5. Not for every FB 'friend', but there's a 'sufficien

"It's Mary's birthday in 3 days - send her a birthday cupcake?" I would probably click "yes" if it's < $5. Not for every FB 'friend', but there's a 'sufficiently close' threshold where, yes, I'd click that button. Even better if it's day-of fulfillment. And I bet I'm not alone.

MartinCron 14y ago
Now, instead of just a flood of empty messages on your birthday, you'll get a flood of empty calories, too.
- mnicole 14y ago
  Yeah this brings about an interesting dilemma; do I really want this crap? Can I reject it or swap it for something of equal value? Store their donation and add it with others' to actually get myself something I want?
  - Xuzz 14y ago
    Looks like you can swap it out: https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=226108584182842#How-do-I-swap-a-gift-I-received-for-a-different-item https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=226108584182842#How-do-I-...?
    - mnicole 14y ago
      Good to know, thanks!
    - gms7777 14y ago
      Would be interesting if they also added a pooling feature, where if you get multiple gifts, you can combine the original costs of all of them to get something nicer.
      - alan57 14y ago
        Definitely agree with this. Would cut down on wasted packaging as well.
      - ldamman 14y ago
        Sounds like a carnival game ;)
fletchowns 14y ago
Such a convenient way to make an empty and meaningless gesture!
- benburleson 14y ago
  Why would that be empty and meaningless? Sure, it's not much effort, but it's nice to know someone was thinking of you. The fact that it's not free gives it more weight than a simple "Happy Birthday" post.
  - SCdF 14y ago
    They're not thinking of you because Facebook had to remind them. Try making your birthday private in Facebook one year and see how many happy birthday messages you get when people aren't prodded by Facebook to care. It's a lot less.
    - Johngibb 14y ago
      That doesn't mean that people don't care. I certainly wouldn't able to remember the birthday of all my closest friends, but I do care and am glad to be reminded. On the other hand, there are of course a ton of bday wishes from people who probably don't really care, but is that really a bad thing?
      - robryan 14y ago
        Yeah, I think you can be reasonably good friends with someone and not remember their birthday. Unless you are really focusing on it you are going to have a limited bandwidth for remembering birthdays and likely have more people you genuinely care about sending your best wishes than you can remember.
    - zacharycohn 14y ago
      I've reached the number of friends on Facebook where at least ONE person is having a birthday every day. I probably only post 10-15 "happy birthday!" posts a year. So every day I check to see who's birthday it is. If it's someone I'm close to, then I post something. If Facebook didn't have them displayed, I would probably have those 15 birthdays written down on a real world calendar, and I'd just check that.
arbuge 14y ago
Fat chance (pun intended) once you include s&h...
imcqueen 14y ago
It's an interesting idea and relevant to one of the major actions users take on facebook (birthday/well wishes). I think you're right that it's "sufficiently close", but I'm struggling with how I define that. It's essentially someone close enough that I would give them a gift, but not so close that giving them a gift through FB is too impersonal. Do you have friends that you call or hang out with on their birthday but don't write on their wall? Most of my fb well wishes are from loose connections. My real friends call, text or hang out with me on my bday. Facebook is the least personal touchpoint I'm available through, but maybe I'm an exception. PS - I think it's been said, but combining gifts is probably the key here(i.e. everyone chips in to get you something).
mehulkar 14y ago
That's my issue with this. My 'friend' list isn't really a list of friends. That's not Facebook's fault[1] though. [1] arguable?
lewisflude 14y ago
I'm interested to see who they partner up with on this. I'd be very open to the idea of using a service like this.

MartinCron 14y ago

Now, instead of just a flood of empty messages on your birthday, you'll get a flood of empty calories, too.

mnicole 14y ago
Yeah this brings about an interesting dilemma; do I really want this crap? Can I reject it or swap it for something of equal value? Store their donation and add it with others' to actually get myself something I want?
- Xuzz 14y ago
  Looks like you can swap it out: https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=226108584182842#How-do-I-swap-a-gift-I-received-for-a-different-item https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=226108584182842#How-do-I-...?
  - mnicole 14y ago
    Good to know, thanks!
  - gms7777 14y ago
    Would be interesting if they also added a pooling feature, where if you get multiple gifts, you can combine the original costs of all of them to get something nicer.
    - alan57 14y ago
      Definitely agree with this. Would cut down on wasted packaging as well.
    - ldamman 14y ago
      Sounds like a carnival game ;)

fletchowns 14y ago

Such a convenient way to make an empty and meaningless gesture!

benburleson 14y ago
Why would that be empty and meaningless? Sure, it's not much effort, but it's nice to know someone was thinking of you. The fact that it's not free gives it more weight than a simple "Happy Birthday" post.
- SCdF 14y ago
  They're not thinking of you because Facebook had to remind them. Try making your birthday private in Facebook one year and see how many happy birthday messages you get when people aren't prodded by Facebook to care. It's a lot less.
  - Johngibb 14y ago
    That doesn't mean that people don't care. I certainly wouldn't able to remember the birthday of all my closest friends, but I do care and am glad to be reminded. On the other hand, there are of course a ton of bday wishes from people who probably don't really care, but is that really a bad thing?
    - robryan 14y ago
      Yeah, I think you can be reasonably good friends with someone and not remember their birthday. Unless you are really focusing on it you are going to have a limited bandwidth for remembering birthdays and likely have more people you genuinely care about sending your best wishes than you can remember.
  - zacharycohn 14y ago
    I've reached the number of friends on Facebook where at least ONE person is having a birthday every day. I probably only post 10-15 "happy birthday!" posts a year. So every day I check to see who's birthday it is. If it's someone I'm close to, then I post something. If Facebook didn't have them displayed, I would probably have those 15 birthdays written down on a real world calendar, and I'd just check that.

arbuge 14y ago

Fat chance (pun intended) once you include s&h...

imcqueen 14y ago

It's an interesting idea and relevant to one of the major actions users take on facebook (birthday/well wishes). I think you're right that it's "sufficiently close", but I'm struggling with how I define that. It's essentially someone close enough that I would give them a gift, but not so close that giving them a gift through FB is too impersonal. Do you have friends that you call or hang out with on their birthday but don't write on their wall? Most of my fb well wishes are from loose connections. My real friends call, text or hang out with me on my bday. Facebook is the least personal touchpoint I'm available through, but maybe I'm an exception. PS - I think it's been said, but combining gifts is probably the key here(i.e. everyone chips in to get you something).

mehulkar 14y ago

That's my issue with this. My 'friend' list isn't really a list of friends. That's not Facebook's fault[1] though. [1] arguable?

lewisflude 14y ago

I'm interested to see who they partner up with on this. I'd be very open to the idea of using a service like this.