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Facebook wants you to send birthday greetings in 15-second videos

Video calling
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Bland and undeniably brief, those simple “HBD” messages from Facebook friends do a poor job of filling you with the kind of joy and happiness usually associated with such an occasion.

Hoping to infuse a little more charm and cheer into the special day, the social networking giant has just introduced a “birthday video cam” for its mobile app so you can knock together a snappy message for your buddy to wish them all the best.

facebook birthday video
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Currently for iOS users but coming to Android soon, the feature lets you quickly record a 15-second birthday greeting that you can jazz up with an overlay before posting it on your friend’s wall.

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Facebook’s birthday-alert feature is one of the platform’s most-used offerings, so it’s kind of surprising the company hasn’t rolled out something like this sooner, even more so when you consider how video has become a central part of the company’s expansion efforts over the last 18 months.

“We wanted to find a new way for close friends to post something fun and as quickly as possible,” Facebook’s Henry Soong said of the new feature, adding, “Having [friends] post ‘HBD’ on my wall is awesome, but what’s better than to actually see someone wishing you ‘Happy Birthday?'”

It’s certainly a lot more personal, and we imagine the new feature will be a hit with Facebook users – both senders and recipients.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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