How Many Real Friends Do You Have on Facebook?
Take a look at your friend list on Facebook. How well do all of these people really know you? Sure, you might have seen them at a party once, went to school with them, work with them, maybe even hang out sometimes. But does that mean you’re really friends with them? Let’s test them.
Login to Facebook and change your birthday to any other day. Better yet, change it to tomorrow (if your birthday really is tomorrow, use your imagination). Now all there is to do is wait. How many people will wish you a happy birthday because Facebook told them it was your birthday?
Aside from some close friends who really know your birthday (and hopefully won’t call you out on it via your wall), most people will probably see everyone wishing you a happy birthday and hop on the birthday train.
That’s my theory… but let’s test this one. I’ve changed my Facebook birthday to tomorrow’s date. I will update with the results tomorrow.
Further speculation:
I also think this is going to cause some problems and possibly make my “friends” feel bad when they realize they did a nice deed that ultimately made them look foolish. Does that make me mean for doing this? Maybe. But what can I say? I’m a curious scientist.
UPDATE:
After letting this go on for the full fake birthday, I was surprised with some of the results. Many people wished me a happy birthday, including some family members and close friends, while other people, who I didn’t expect to know my real birthday, actually called me out on it. The best part was that when I went into work, I was greeted with “happy birthday” from several people (who I had to awkwardly tell the truth to). I would like to do this again soon, except with some interesting variations to it (maybe just removing my birthday and having a few people purposely wish me a happy birthday to see who follows their lead). I won’t be posting that one, though, until it is complete.
1 year ago