I celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago. This year was a bit different from the other 26 birthdays I’ve celebrated in my life – a larger percentage of my social network (and my strongest ties) are distributed across the country (and around the world). Even when I was going to school at SI, my family wasn’t near me but a lot of my friends were also in Ann Arbor. This year, I found it rather interesting the vast variety of ways that my friends and family decided to wish me happy birthday:
- phone calls
- comments on Facebook and MySpace
- emails and e-greeting cards
- in-person
- IM (including Andy and Erika “singing” the birthday song via Office Communicator
- paper cards (via snail mail!)
In most cases, each communication method correlated with the strength of my relationship with the sender. Communication methods that required the greatest effort (phone, in-person, card) usually signified my strongest ties. At the same time, not all email or IM birthday greetings were of the same depth. Some of my close friends sent me lengthier emails, wishing me a happy birthday and updating me on what’s been happening in their lives. Email threads of this type and more involved IM conversations also correlated with strong ties. Birthday comments on Facebook and MySpace were usually left by my weak ties (again, there were exceptions), likely because they were reminded of my birthday when they logged in. I’m guessing my strongest ties either know my birthday or have it marked on a calendar.
I just heard danah boyd give a great talk about MySpace. A few random notes:
- Friendster lost its momentum by essentially battling with their users – deleting fake profiles, taking out features, etc
- MySpace is successful for a number of reason: indy bands are there, they welcome teens, all their friends are there, personalization of profiles, conversations through profile comments, you can only find out about parties/what’s happening on the weekend through MySpace
I took about two pages of notes so this little blog post doesn’t really give the talk any justice. :)
I know I haven’t been doing a great job of updating this blog lately but the lack of comments on my recent posts is depressing! I think it is time to have a comment open-mike night. I’m always curious about who is actually reading this blog (if anyone). So, if you’re reading this post right now, leave a comment with your name, blog, and how you got here.
I’m not much of a napper, even though I grew up in the Middle East and was conditioned to seeing the adults in my life taking afternoon naps on a regular basis. I’m the sort of person that once I’m up, that’s it – there is no way I can go back to sleep unless it is after 9 p.m. In fact, the only times I’ve ever taken naps is when I’m jet-lagged (think overseas-I-just-spent-time-halfway-across-the-world-jet-lag) and my system is totally messed up. For some crazy reason, I napped A LOT today. I spent the afternoon finishing up reading The Saffron Kitchen (highly recommended) and became really sleepy. I ended up napping on and off for about five or six hours (perhaps more). Weird! I wonder what’s wrong with me. It’s now 9 p.m. and I feel like I need to reclaim my lost Saturday!
I’m in LA for a few days for a conference for work. I’m sitting in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel, catching up on work email before the next session, and I just saw Forest Whitaker!! Even though I spent a summer in LA back in 2005, I never saw any celebrities so I always felt like my LA experience wasn’t complete. Forest (we’re on a first name basis now that I’ve goofly smiled at him a few times) was walking through the lobby. He walked back and forth several times. He looked pretty confused, the way people usually do when they’re looking for someone and feeling vulnerable, thinking that they may have been stood up. He finally met up with a hot blonde chick and some other guy.
It’s been such a beautiful weekend – nice, warm (with a nice cool breeze), and sunny! I finally found some patio furniture for my balcony (thanks Target!) so I’m typing this from the balcony (yay for wifi).  Mulder is somewhat freaked out yet overjoyed by this new use of our outside space (my brother refers to my parents’ closed-in patio as “mini-freedom,” being that it is the only outside space OJ gets to frequent).  Mulder has been so excited by being outside that he almost accidently committed suicide. He jumped up on the ledge of the balcony and then stuck his head out through the railing. I was so scared that he’d jump from the third floor to the concrete courtyard below. I managed to calmly (well, as calmly as I could given that I thought he was going to jump and break every little bone in his body) order him to come back. He somehow stuck his head back in and ran inside. I think the incident has sort of freaked him out. He isn’t venturing very much further from the doorway right now.
I suppose it’s a pretty sure sign that your life/blog is pretty boring when the only things you are prompted to blog about are the weather, patio furniture, and your cat. But hey it’s an update, right?
