Facebook invents the laziest-ever way to say Happy Birthday

Everyone likes getting messages on their birthday. We used to like cards but, hey, we're in a paperless world these days and it's probably better for the environment to just receive a text or a social communication instead.

But, try as you might, you can never quite shake off the fact that people aren't really putting in much effort to make that greeting. And if it doesn't require effort, does it really mean as much?

Well, it now turns out that the effort required to send a Facebook birthday message is even less than we thought - as you can now simply reply to a text with the message '1' and it will wish your 'friend' a happy birthday for you.

Twitter user Peter Knox noticed the feature, which Facebook says it has been rolling out over the last year or so, and it turns out that birthday reminders are included content in mobile push notifiations - ie. those people to sign up to get their updates via SMS - generally non-smartphone users and people who don't necessarily bother with the app.

It's probably trying to be helpful, but if you can't even be bothered to log on and upload a picture of a dog with a hat (see above for reference), then you can't really say you're much of a real friend can you?

This makes e-cards look like a bastion of sincerity.

(Image: Shutterstock)