2010 Birthday Statistics

Originally posted January 22, 2010

I decided to compile some statistics about the birthday wishes I got this year.

Out of my 184 Facebook friends, between wall posts, text messages, and telephone calls, I received 33 unique birthday wishes (17.93%), 24 from guys (out of 149, or 16.10%) and 9 from girls (out of 35, or 25.71%).

In 2009, I only got 21 birthday wishes, so this year I saw a 57% increase in birthday wishes. However, I also only had 94 Facebook friends on January 21, 2009, so my overall birthday wish percentage is down around 4% from 22.34%. I had 13 repeat wishers from 2009, 8 drop-offs, and 20 new wishers.

If these trends continue at roughly the same rate*, in 2011 I can expect to have around 224 friends, and somewhere between 38 and 52 birthday wishes.

I also tracked the time that each wish occurred and created a histogram:

The most popular times for a birthday wish were between 12AM and 3AM, and between 9AM and 12PM.

Conclusions:

Girls are more likely to say 'happy birthday' than guys.

People on my friends list seem to look at Facebook during two peak periods: 12AM-3AM (right before bed), or 9AM-12PM (after waking up).

Thank you for thinking of me on my birthday!

*I'm assuming that my friends list grows at a constant, linear rate, and that 20 +/- 3 % of that list will wish me happy birthday. More annual data might suggest a different model.