Friendship Day, celebrated on August 7, is a big deal for a lot of people — and now looks like Facebook has cashed in on it with their very own #FriendsDay! On February 4, the new Friends Day was created to celebrate Facebook’s 12th birthday and people went crazy for it. A compilation of memorable photos and closest friends according to the social media website, gave everyone an epic hit of nostalgia.
Gowrishankar Siva, a photographer and co-founder of Comic Con Chennai, says, “I saw a lot of friends sharing this video and checked it out. Facebook generally comes up with a lot of stuff but I don’t usually end up sharing it. The flow of this video, the music and the handpicked pictures were brilliant. I got to reconnect with old friends living in other countries since they featured in the video. It was a great conversation starter.” He goes on to say, “I don’t think Friends Day will ever take over Friendship Day because it’s customary to celebrate it in August. Everyone still celebrates Tamil New Year in April despite it being changed to Pongal!”
Sri Nija, a PR professional found the video cute and shared it, “Everyone was really confused about whether it was really Friendship Day or not. But it was nice to see old and new friends in one video.” Vijay Christopher also shared his video, “It was just something I did because I saw my friends on it. I think Friendship Day and Friends Day are very different occasions. Friends Day will remain only on Facebook.”
Looks like Facebook’s whole new day for friendship worked in some ways and failed in some. The video failed in uprooting the love people have for the well-established Friendship Day but users of the site seem to definitely have a soft spot for this marketing strategy.
