I had a real lesson on the impact of Facebook last week. I had a birthday and the date was on my FB profile. Facebook sends your friends a notice the day before your birthday so they can wish you a happy birthday. I have about 150 friends I’m connected with, all of whom are people I actually know- I’m discriminate about who I connect with. On my birthday I had a constant stream of comments, wise cracks, well-wishers that lasted all day, a kind of birthday party on Facebook.

The highlight was when my friend Jill sent me a video of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy. Marilyn is wearing a notoriously sexy dress, a dress so form-fitting that she had to be sewn into it! That was pretty cool.

And when I went out that night everyone I ran into knew it was my b-day which was a little weird…

With the recent announcement that they had reached the 200 million user mark, it is apparent to me that Facebook is the real deal, a game changer when it comes to socializing both online and off.