Birthday Posts

            I’ve recently noticed something about my Instagram page. At least one third of my posts are some kind of birthday or anniversary post. I know at least once a day I see a post in my feed about someone’s birthday or the anniversary of something. It made me wonder, where did this unspoken rule come from to post pictures of your friends or family on their birthdays or on other special days like anniversaries?
Normally, Instagram posts are supposed to capture a moment that just occurred in your life to share it with others. Posting a picture of your friends reaction to the surprise party you threw them, for example, would follow this logic. But most of the time people make birthday posts for people they won’t be with on their special day. Why do we do this? Personally, I love posting on peoples’ birthdays for a few reasons. I don’t post on social media very often unless I have a very significant moment in my life and a good picture to go with it. But I have a lot of great pictures with my friends which either don’t line up with a moment I feel I could talk about, or I wanted to post a different photo at the time, or I forgot to post it before the moment passed. So I like using birthday posts as an excuse and motivation to post those awesome pictures I’ve been saving up. No joke, I’ve saved pictures for over a year just so I could post it on someone’s birthday.
Along with the pictures, there’s the caption. I know the best social media “technique” is to do short and sweet captions, but I struggle with this. I love words and I usually have a lot to say especially if I’m talking about someone I love! I think at least birthday posts should be an exception to the short caption rule. For me and I think for many others, a caption on a birthday post can be your card to the person. You might not be able to be with your friend on their birthday, but I think it is a loving gesture to write a message about how awesome your friend is and put it on Instagram for the world to see. It is such a nice surprise when the notification pops up on your phone saying someone tagged you in photo and it makes the day a little brighter. I don’t think an Instagram post should take the place of individually reaching out or spending time with a friend on their birthday, but it can add to the happiness of the day and make them feel special if you take the time to write a heartfelt caption.


What do you think of birthday posts? Comment below!

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 19, 2018 at 10:00 PM

    I think birthday, anniversary and other posts like them go back to our need to be liked and recognized on social media. We understand those posts are often sentimental and evoke feelings. Thereby, they have the potential to gain a large number of likes and comments. Ultimately, though, I'd have to agree with you. I like them. They're a good way to bring attention on the person and bring some happiness on the recipient and viewers. So, I say keep the good posts coming.

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