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Social media use initiated a new culture in human sociology and communication ecology. Carr & Hayes as cited in Ajhabash & Ma (2017, p.1) defined social media as “Internet-based, disentrained, and persistent channels of mass personal communication facilitating perceptions of interactions among users, deriving value primarily from user-generated content.” The interactivity and participatory features of social media draw the attraction of many people globally, particularly the younger generation called millennial, who exploit it for various purpose. Social media is also useful in many areas of human endeavour, including health, communication, development, economic, commerce, education, agriculture, political, socio-cultural rationale, among others. A subdomain of social media is known as social networking sites under which Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among other categories.
Young people have broadly embraced the use of social media, especially in Africa and Nigeria, probably as an easy means of education, communication and socialisation. Globally, Facebook is the most popular social network (Alhabash & Ma, 2017; Farahbakhsh, Han, Cuevas & Crespi, 2017) with a usage statistics of 74.58% as of September 2020 (https://gs.statcounter.com/social-media-stats/all/nigeria). The surge in usage is likely to contribute to increased interest in Facebook birthdays, especially among young people. Its potentialities of allowing people to bond with family members, friends and acquaintances; and its capacity to provide users with the opportunity to post and share contents such as photos and status updates (Stec as cited in Alhabash & Ma, 2017, p.2), makes Facebook ideal for birthday celebrations leading to cultural formation among young people.
The relevance of Facebook in social-cultural development and integration of society also help motivate young people to maintain such accounts. The individual's use of social media, however, is often based on perceived expectation and gratification and is often personalised by different motivational factors. Some research further highlighted some of those motivational factors as the ability: to gain social capital by initiating and maintaining friendships (Alhabash & Ma, 2017; Lenhart, 2009; Valenzuela, Park, & Kee, 2009) and; to create and enhance a self-image (Utz, 2010; Zhang, 2010). Deuze (2015, p.1) succinctly surmises “all people use social media a lot, for all kinds of purposes—but mostly to be in touch with family and friends, to be present and seen in the lives of people they care about.” Deuze’s mindset underscores the position of Facebook in cultural formation and socialisation.