According to Mashable, the social media now shows users birthdays on their profiles, and creates a mini celebration on the page that includes floating balloons. You can check out comedian Kevin Hart’s Twitter profile to see what yours will look like come the [fill in the year] anniversary of your 21st birthday. Today Twitter announced that the users can put their birthday in their profile if they’d like, letting others know when the day arrives and maybe raking a few well wishes out of it. The addition is a simple change, but one that lends a little more info about the person behind the profile picture.
Advertisement
And publicly divulging your birth date (along with other sensitive information such as home address, driver’s license number and Social Security number) can make you more vulnerable to identity thieves.
“Your birth date is a completely optional part of your profile and you have full control over who can see it”, Castro wrote.
Facebook has been asking for your birthday and your real name since you signed up. You can also opt to add your birth month and day, and leave off the year if you just don’t want people knowing how old you are.
Advertisement
“We will use your birthday to show you more relevant content, including ads”, Twitter said in a Help Center article about the new feature. “The candles on the cake are really for Twitter, who hopes to gain a new slice of digital ad dollars”.
