It was my birthday yesterday.

We had a fabulous family day out, taking in the Tate Modern, gallivanting around Greenwich and eating implausibly large ice creams.

But over on Facebook, it was a much more sombre affair.

Just a few short years ago, if you wanted an excessive number of best birthday wishes, a veritable panoply of happy returns, all you’d need to do was log into Facebook, where it was de rigueur for all of your friends to wish you a happy birthday.

Yesterday, I think I had four. Oh actually, five – thanks mum!

I don’t say this to complain, and I’m extremely grateful to the well-wishers who did post on my timeline (if that’s what it’s still called), but it does demonstrate something worth being aware of:

Attention isn’t static.

It shifts, it moves to different medias, different platforms. It’s on Facebook one year, and then over to TikTok or Instagram or WhatsApp the next.

And for all of us relying on generating enough attention to get the leads and customers we want and need, it pays to ensure we’re operating where our prospect’s attention is, and where it’s going.

Otherwise, we end up alongside the tumbleweed on the timeline, and finding it harder than it should be to get customers and grow our businesses.

P.S. Here’s a snap from the Tate Modern before the patience ran out…