Famous Birthdaysis an American website based inSanta Monica, California,[1]which is dedicated to cataloging the birthdays of famous people and compiling other facts about them.[2][3]
 Logo as of 2014 | |
 The Famous Birthdays homepage as it appeared on January 8, 2025 | |
Type of site | Private |
|---|---|
| Available in |
|
| Founded | November 7, 2012(current) |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, United States |
| Created by | Edward Morykwas (original) |
| Key people | Evan Britton |
| URL | www |
| Launched | 1996(original) |
| Current status | Active |
| Written in | HTML,JavaScript |
Background
editThe original Famous Birthdays website was created by Edward Morykwas, a Michigan schoolteacher, in 1996. It offerede-cards.[4][5][6]
The site was updated to its current format in November 7, 2012, by Evan Britton,[7]who has since described the website as "WikipediaforGeneration Z".[8][7]Famous Birthdays originally focused on more traditional celebrities (such as actors, athletes, musicians, etc.), but has since expanded to also featureinternet personalities.[2]This shift came after Britton discovered that visitors were searching for individuals unfamiliar to him; at first mistaking the traffic as spam, he realized that the searches were of people with online followings such asCameron Dallas.[8]
Status
editIn 2015, Britton's eighteen-person team attendedVidCon.[8]As of January 2018[update],it had over 150,000 biographies.[7]In July 2018, Famous Birthdays launched Famous Birthdays Español, aSpanish-languageversion of the site.[1]In 2019, it had 20 million unique visitors each month. The same year, journalistTaylor LorenzofThe Atlanticdescribed a Famous Birthdays page as a "status symbol" or "badge of honor" for internet personalities, noting its teenage and Generation Z demographic[8]and Lorenz forThe New York Timescalling it a "a milestone in anyinfluencer's career. "[9]As of June 2024 the website received 20 million unique visitors each month.[10]
Features
editDespite its name, Famous Birthdays also includes entire staff-written biographies. Each page has a "boost" button—each visitor who clicks this button will "boost" the biography higher up into the "trending" or "most popular" rankings. Online celebrities may canvass their followers into swaying them higher into the rankings by encouraging them to press the "boost" button.[8]Biographies tend to be of the same length, despite the relative fame of the individual in question.[10]
References
edit- ^abGutelle, Sam (July 9, 2018).""Wikipedia For Gen Z" Famous Birthdays Launches Spanish-Language Site ".Tubefilter.Archivedfrom the original on October 14, 2022.RetrievedOctober 14,2022.
- ^abWright, Mic (June 10, 2015)."What you know about fame is wrong and this site proves it".The Next Web.Archivedfrom the original on March 30, 2018.RetrievedMarch 30,2018.
- ^Kuo, Benjamin F. (May 14, 2013)."Carving An Internet Niche With FamousBirthdays".Socaltech.Archivedfrom the original on August 1, 2016.RetrievedMarch 30,2018.
- ^"Famous Birthdays home page from 1998".Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 1998.
- ^"Free Press Site of the Week - February 4, 2001".Detroit Free Press.February 4, 2001. p. 54.RetrievedAugust 16,2023.
- ^Callender, Sara (February 22, 2001)."Happy Birthday Everyone".Troy Eccentric Newspaper.
- ^abcGutelle, Sam (January 23, 2018)."How Famous Birthdays Uses 500,000 Daily Searches To Build A Database Of Gen Z Culture".Tubefilter.Archivedfrom the original on November 27, 2020.RetrievedOctober 14,2022.
- ^abcdeLorenz, Taylor(July 25, 2019)."A Wikipedia for Generation Z".The Atlantic.Archivedfrom the original on October 17, 2022.RetrievedOctober 14,2022.
- ^Lorenz, Taylor(May 26, 2020)."Step Chickens and the Rise of TikTok 'Cults'".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedMay 12,2023.
- ^ab"Famous Birthdays wants to be the Wikipedia for Gen Z".The Economist.June 13, 2024.RetrievedJune 19,2024.
