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Chapter 25! "Wish Johnnie Allen Jr. M.S.Ed. a happy birthday (May 31)"

 



On Wednesday, May 31st, I celebrated my 25th birthday! I am sharing this not for birthday praise (however, I am accepting birthday wishes all year long😊!) but because it is tied to my journey with this course. I have started to rely heavily on birthday reminders from various digital and social media sites. I have difficulty remembering some of my close friends and other people's birthdays, and I never want to entirely miss sharing some birthday love with them on their special day. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn offer daily notification reminders of "today's birthdays." I noticed on my LinkedIn page that it is displayed as "Wish Johnnie Allen Jr. M.S.Ed. a happy birthday (May 31)". I find this helpful and a clear example of using digital sites to our advantage to keep building community and networks through professional and social relationships. Many of the events in our lives are now far more public than private due to the reliance on social media sites and their usage in our daily lives. I noticed this year that many individuals I have met across my K-20 education journey have become pivotal to aspects of my birthday celebration. I have met many people through conferences and networks who join my social media communities and offer their celebratory sentiments on various topics I share. Marta Dabrowska shared, "what used to be approached, discussed, dealt with, and celebrated within a small circle of family and friends has now become in many was a public event" (p.87). I agree that birthdays have adopted to be largely announced on digital and social media sites. This may be great for someone like myself whose number one love language is words of affirmation. However, birthdays may not feel that way for everyone. Some may avoid social media on that particular day because it may be difficult for them for various reasons. We have talked a lot in this course lately about "what is truly private on social media." Sometimes private is not entirely up to us as others may make information more public and might do so without thinking about the impact this could have on someone. 

Embedding birthday notifications into social media sites can present some advantages and challenges. Could this be considered an aspect of one's professional learning network? How do digital natives vs. digital immigrants view birthday notifications on social media? What are your thoughts on these types of notifications? 

Reference: 


Marta, D. (2019). Birthday, Culture, and Social Media. Armenian Folia Anglistika, 15(2 (20)), 86-123. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/birthday-culture-and-social-media


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