Twitter is adding more options for its users, now allowing people to add their birthday to their profile.
The microblogging platform wants to expand the range of features users, companies and brands can enjoy, and the option to add a birthday is just the latest in a string of efforts toward this endeavor.
After adding audience insights for brands last week, Twitter is now introducing a new feature for users, allowing them to celebrate their birthday with their friends and followers.
This option is not mandatory, however, which means that Twitter users who don't want their birthday to show up on their profile can simply ignore this feature and leave their profile like it is.
Those who do want to add their birthday to their profile, meanwhile, can easily do so by going into settings and select the "Edit profile" option. For those who would like to add their birth date, but not year, Twitter has this covered as well. The visibility setting for users' birth year is separate from the one associated with one's birth month and day, thus allowing users to control just how much others see. If you don't want your followers to know how old you really are, simply adjust the birth year setting accordingly. You can do the same for the birth date as well.
If you go to "Edit profile," you will see the "Birthday" option in the menu on the left. Click on that and you will see fields for adding your birth month and day, complete with a privacy button. Below the birth month and day fields you have the year section, also with a privacy button right next to it. Clicking on that privacy option will display several possibilities: make your birthday public, or share it with your followers, with people you follow, with people you follow and who follow you back, or make it visible to your eyes only only.
It's worth pointing out, however, that regardless of the privacy option you choose, Twitter will still serve you ads. This means that even if you set your birthday's visibility to "Only me," Twitter will still use that information for marketing.
"If you choose to add your birthday to your profile, it will be displayed to the audience that you've chosen. It will also be used to customize your Twitter experience. For example, we will use your birthday to show you more relevant content, including ads," Twitter noted.
