You may remember my 3-part series last year on facebook birthday wall posts. The topic continues to fascinate me, so I thought we could briefly revisit it now that I have more data (i.e. I've depressingly gained another year of age).
Last year the three posts examined when people posted on my wall, exactly who posted, and (most interestingly) what they posted. This year, I've again tabulated the results, but we're going to focus only on the last category -- the content posted -- because, well, it's the most interesting.
What people posted
and how it compares to last year
If you don't have the time or inclination to visit the above link to "what people posted," I'll summarize to you my methodology. I place all facebook birthday posts in one of three categories:
1. Standard
This is the worst type. It containes only the phrase "happy birthday", with a few possible things tacked on at the end-- exclamation marks, "dude", "man", or in my case, "Jon."
2. Standard Plus
Don't let the name fool you into thinking this is a good option. It's just the standard wall post above with an added platitude, e.g. "hope you have a great day!"
3. Personalized
These are really the only acceptable wall posts, in my opinion. Whether you personalize the post with an inside joke, memory, poem, or a video of a smiling chimpanzee, these posts actually make the birthday person feel valued. Now, for some reason last year I split this category up into two subcategories. But you can mentally group together the green and purple in the graphs below.
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| 2011 birthday wall posts by type |
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| 2012 (better) birthday wall posts by type |
What we can learn
nothing important, I'm quite sure
The main takeaway here is that -- Yahtzee! -- my facebook wall was noticeably better this year! Standard Plus stayed where it was, while 12% of my total wall posts shifted from Standard to Personalized!! Way to go, internet social network.
Why did this change take place? I have a few ideas. A. My friends are cooler now than they were last year. B. I unfriended the lamebrains who posted Standard birthday posts last year. C. Last year I blogged extensively about birthday wall posting, and approximately 12% of the crappy birthday posters in my social network took it to heart.
But that's just speculation. Some things we'll never know.
Interesting development(s)
My dream of this blog and the world becoming reflections of each other is finally coming to fruition
My blog was referenced, directly or indirectly, 6 times on my birthday facebook wall. I'd like to acknowledge the contexts:
My friends bmcnees and Tim vied for supremacy on this blog's MVC page. (For the record, Tim currently sits at #1.)
My friend Beth worried she would be used on here as an example of a bad birthday poster.
My friend Rob randomly brought up last year's posts.
My friend kmech confessed the pressure she felt from last year's posts, then shared an awesomely touching message of missing me and our friendship!
My friend Kendra pulled off the near-impossible-- a Tangent Space(s) reference so amazingly obscure I had to go back and read last year's blog entry to make sure I was remembering it correctly.
We can pick up this conversation again in about a year.
Jon
You are so funny, JM. I really do hope you had a wonderful birthday! :)
ReplyDeleteJon, first I want to thank you for reminding everyone (Bob!) that I am #1!
ReplyDeleteSecond, as promised, I did a back-of-the-envelope significance test to determine if the increase in quality Birthday posts was likely due to randomness or not. Congratulations! The increased quality was highly statistically significant. You do indeed have the ability to control your adoring fans.
I am offended I didn't make the cut, but it makes me realize that even the great Jon Mathieu is human by making this mistake. ;)
ReplyDeleteWill, you didn't "make the cut" because until I have the time to puzzle out your post, I don't know what it means. Thus I don't know if it relates to this blog. Thus it's not mentioned in this post.
DeleteIf I had given a prize for most mysterious post, though, it would have been all you.
Oh, I probably should have read your whole post before replying. Mine had nothing to do about your blog, but moreso my own. I thought you were just listing all the best posts.
DeleteJon... I think it's great you posted what we talked about in regards to Tim. You're a great friend for allowing him to think that he's the #1 follower of this blog. But I'm glad that we talked about that first and reached a consensus that I am the true number one. Don't worry, I'll make sure not to tell him. I wouldn't want to crush his spirit. I'll make sure to post this privately so no one else can see it.
ReplyDeletemaybe by the third year, a subgroup will have developed for people too intimidated to post anything because of these first and second years of pressure..of which I sadly would belong
ReplyDeleteI met a beautiful Brazilian girl at a wedding in Duluth. We hit it off during our brief time together, and I was interested in continuing our communication, but alas, all that came of it was a feeble facebook friendship.
ReplyDeleteAfter 10 months of silence, this girl was all but forgotten. However, facebook likes to remind me of peoples' birthdays. When her turn came, my mind turned to your posts on the matter. This was my chance to connect with this girl!
I quote: "Happy birthday Nathalia! When are you coming back to Minnesota??"
I have it on good authority (hers) that if I had not included the question, we would never have started talking. But include it I did! And talking we did!
And now we are engaged.
Scott,
DeleteThis is one of the greatest things I've ever heard. Congrats to you on your engagement and thanks for sharing your story and the tiny role I played!