Do you remember the days when a birthday was a huge ordeal, with multiple weeks of planning beforehand to ensure that the notable day in someone's life was all that it could be? Before technology played such a strong role is our daily lives, actions such as wishing someone a happy birthday required some degree of work. Whether it was an in-person visit, a written letter, or even a phone call, the action demonstrated a genuine desire to show care for the individual having a birthday and that they are valued on their special day. As society has progressed, so has technology, and this has greatly impacted something which had been so meaningful for so long: birthdays. Think about the actions that you, and quite likely the majority of Americans, take to contribute to someone's birthday.
*open laptop, log on to Facebook, find their page, post "happy birthday," close laptop*
I believe that it is fair to assume that many of us are guilty of this form of birthday acknowledgement. This action correlates to the way society is progressing as a whole: becoming more efficient with less effort exerted; however, in doing so, the sense of care is eliminated from an action, much like virtually wishing someone a happy birthday.
This paradigm shift is significant because it is a reflection of how society has shifted as a whole, but focuses on one element which is particularly relevant to our generation. It is evident that as technology has made vast improvements it has also hindered other aspects of life, such as communication. Ultimately, my central claim for this piece is that the implementation of advanced technologies in society has made simple communication more impersonal and less meaningful, as apparent through the transformation of one simple wish: "happy birthday."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/12/tech/web/tech-romance-evolution/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201006/the-effect-technology-relationships
http://www.edudemic.com/the-4-negative-side-effects-of-technology/
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/facebook-effect-social-network-changed-world-122656206.html
http://time.com/3751376/happy-birthday-wishes-facebook-twitter-etiquette/
You have a great broad topic to examine, narrowed down to an excellent single point of focus. I think that you can make this a very interesting topic to write about and for us to hear about (even though I've already made my own opinion on this topic pretty clear).
ReplyDeleteYou didn't go with any of the topics you had in mind last week; I am surprised! You had a good basis for the second one last week; however, you seem to have a good grasp on this concept too. I just wished two people, virtually, happy birthday, so this is a very relatable and visible topic.
ReplyDeleteMadison, interesting topic! It's sparked several thoughts for me, so let me throw them out in no apparent order. (Ninja-style commentary...)
ReplyDelete- To play devil's advocate, it might be useful to consider that we tend to resort to the "open laptop, type a birthday greeting, close laptop" method for those people we don't know well -- i.e. those people who are mild acquaintances, not the closest of friends or family for whom we likely still celebrate with a gift or another larger gesture. This being said, could one argue that we actually do "more" for birthdays now by simply acknowledging them via social media than we ever would have before social mediate for the simple fact that we now KNOW our acquaintances' birthdays? We're made privy to this information now, whereas in the past, we didn't have this knowledge readily available.
Given this, to perhaps "prove" the actual existence of your shift, it might be good to determine if we've actually lowered our birthday standards for those who are closest to us (i.e., Do we no longer give cards or gifts to close family and friends because we simply use a digital greeting via FB, and what does this mean?) Or perhaps consider whether this quick/cursory birthday greeting trend now is still mostly relegated to those we don't know as well -- and wouldn't have celebrated in the past at all.
Does that make sense?
One other random thought regarding birthdays: I've been musing about how incredibly common birthday parties are for kids now when it seems like every child has a formal birthday party every year. (When I grew up, I only had a few... one as a child, one when I turned 16, etc.) Granted, I'm not sure whether this is an actual shift or just my personal observation, but it's certainly different than my childhood experiences and many of my friends' experiences.
Keep me posted on how you shape your ideas, and if you'd like to talk, let me know!