No need to remember... just look on social media

So to the niece’s 21st birthday party and cue all the usual “I can’t believe she’s 21” and “I remember my 21st …” But the thing is, I can’t. In fact, I can’t really recall most of the landmark events in my earlier life. I know I’m not getting any younger, but I don’t really think that’s the problem. I’ve always had huge blanks when conversations turn to “Do you remember your first day at school/ first kiss/who your favourite Womble was?”

I think it’s partly to do with my terrible memory, but also a lot to do with the fact that none of these things were recorded and then shared on social media.

In my family’s case, this gap in documenting significant events extended to the taking of photos. My parents did the classic thing of taking loads of baby photos of me and my siblings, but then not bothering as we grew older. There was a brief resurgence of interest when Polaroid cameras were a thing, but that soon tailed off.

I know I had a party to celebrate either my 16th or 18th birthday, as we were each allowed to have a bash for one of our significant birthdays and 21 seemed so far away it was not even considered in this context, but there are no photos to back this up.

Now of course, every event is extensively documented on people’s phones, from their breakfast to their graduation.

This must be a good thing, but it does make me wonder what conversations will be like at the 21st parties of future generations, where there will be no need to ask what someone did on their 21st, as they will have seen it all as it happened.

Despite the lack of conversation, I can guarantee that the party will get to the stage where the older partygoers will have retreated to the kitchen and switched from alcohol to a nice cup of tea and a slice of birthday cake, while the younger partygoers are just warming up before calling it a night at 4am.

Now, of course, every event is extensively documented on people’s phones ...