My birthday. This February, I'm throwing a huge bash and what better way to party than incorporating an awesome theme. This year the theme is Lumberjack, and consequently a sea of flannel, raccoon-tailed hats, and suspenders will be washing up on the dance floor this Saturday. Naturally, Facebook first comes to mind when thinking, "How am I going to invite all the people I want to be partying at my birthday?" However, rarely do I think about the entire package that comes with creating an events page on Facebook.
A few years ago, I would post an event on the social networking site and almost everyone would have responded by clicking the "Attending", "Maybe Attending", or "Not Attending" buttons provided or they would have emailed, texted, or phoned to RSVP. Now I'm not surprised to see that a quarter of my Facebook friends who are invited to my birthday have not responded in anyway. Who would have thought that I would really feel like I have to do e-marketing for my own birthday? Should I send the "Not Respondees" a message saying I haven't heard from them and to update their RSVP status or is that the new e-nagging? And is sending out the message a week prior to the party date to the "Attending" group to update them on the party details too early? Basically, I want to avoid becoming "e-nnoying" and find the ultimate balance of fully informing guests, as well as, keep attracting them to the event. While being a bit overwhelmed with who to invite and who I've forgotten to invite, I came across this interesting article in regards to the notion that people cannot handle having more than 150 friends, which is also known as "Dunbar's number". This is an interesting concept that is put into question with the arrival of social networking sites where friends lists can reach up into the thousands. Check it out here! http://bit.ly/56fzPE
