We face a lot of pressure on social media, but perhaps the pressure to wish someone happy birthday on Facebook is the most stressful. How well do you know them? Can you just text them? Did they wish you a happy birthday? Oh, the mind games.
Garfunkel and Oates just released a new song that addresses this very modern dilemma. “Happy Birthday to My Loose Acquaintance” is a short tribute to the “unattached cohesion that Facebook created” and how writing a birthday greeting with three exclamation points is a way “to keep our weak social tie with minimal maintenance.”
Perhaps there would be anarchy if these forced declarations stopped happening on Facebook, but at least Garfunkel and Oates are brave enough to address this epidemic.
Screengrab via IFC/YouTube