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I'm not liking that.

I turned 38 yesterday. In the grand scheme of things this, of course, matters not one jot. It doesn't end in a 5 or a 0, the arbitrary benchmarks we set for ourselves. But the one thing I always find about birthdays (and new year) is they do cause you to have a bit of a think. It's ludicrous I know, there is no pressing reason to be like this any more than on any other given day, but it's as though the brain goes "Right, birthday, stock-take time" and before you know it you're going all ruminative.

And one of the things I got ruminative about was the nature of birthday greetings on t'internet. Now it's a grand thing to receive cards, and I got a pretty good haul (some of them very pretty indeed, top work from both parents on card-picking) but, realistically it's far easier to pop something on facebook. I'm not decrying that at all. I wouldn't expect to receive a card from any of the people on there, in fact i think it's one of the nicer aspects of social media. One criticism often levelled at the likes of facebook and twitter is that they make things too easy, it's too easy to sign a petition, too easy to "like" something rather than formulate an opinion. Too easy just to wish someone a happy birthday, it's the death of effort. And without effort, how will anyone know you care?

The problem with this argument is that it implies that all interaction should be at the same level. Taken to its logical conclusion, unless one sends lengthy letters to every single one of one's acquaintances on their birthday; or to use the petition example, unles one actually pickets the object of the petition rather than just sign the damn thing, then one is a fraud. This is clearly nonsense. I have no problem with the casual interaction of social media, becuase I make an active choice for it not to be the only level of interation I have with people. I will phone people, I'll write to people. I'll even reply to their birthday greetings on facebook, rather than clicking like (hence the title).

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