It's interesting, because my interest and understanding of social network is that it's precisely for managing my distant relationships. People I went to high school with, people I worked with 5 years ago, my second cousins, people I somewhat know who I may need to contact at some point.

People I'm close to, "the people I love", I've never had a problem keeping in touch with them. I have their number in my phone, I have their email address, I see them regularly, I know what they're up to, and how to contact them. That's never been a problem, and social networking hasn't really changed that for me.

Leaving a "happy birthday" used to mean you actually remember the date, not that you had a message requesting you to wish someone a happy birthday. The people I really care about get a phone call, not a dummy "wall post".

Maybe I'm a bit of an antisocial, but I really liked the days before social networks. My friends where on my IM contact list, colleagues on forums or mailing lists.

  > Leaving a "happy birthday" used to mean you
  > actually remember the date

Really? I'm sure there are plenty of people that put those things into calendars. How is the Facebook reminder+wallpost that much different than using Google Calendar + Gmail to get reminded to send a happy birthday email?

Maybe I didn't express myself correctly (My English is not that good) I meant picking up a phone and calling, establishing a connection, a bond - ie: Something not automated.