Facebook turns 5-years-old today and to express their appreciation, they’re giving away free gifts to their 150+ million members. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes, “We’ve created a “Thank You” gift, which will be available… in the Facebook Gift Shop for you to to give freely to others.” But hold on, the “thank you” gift is the virtual kind.
Virtual gift? What’s a virtual gift, you ask?
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Virtual gifts are essentially worthless pieces of crap that you can generally buy with real money for your friends on social networks like Facebook. Crap like a picture of that perfume your girlfriend’s been wanting but you’re too cheap and lazy to go out and actually purchase. Congratulations, I’m sure your gal will love not smelling a fragrance, the purpose of which is to stimulate that olfactory sense.
Or you could send a picture of a cup of coffee to your coworker who’s in desperate need of some caffeine, instead of actually taking the time to grab a cup at your local Starbuck’s. That cube-mate of yours won’t be able to actually enjoy his coffee, but I’m sure the lovely image he can post on his Facebook profile will perk him up all the same.
Or if you really want to get into the spirit of gift giving, you can send your pal a virtual six-pack of beer that will animate in such a way that it looks like you’re gulping ‘em down, but in reality, you’re just sitting and watching a fake brew disappear when you and your buddy could be doing the gulping for real, face-to-face at your favorite pub. But, why do anything face-to-face when you can do it virtually?
Clearly, I’m not a fan of this new trend of virtual gift giving. And I think it’s flat out hilarious when I read comments like, “I’m not sure why the older generation has such a tough time understanding the virtual gifting phenomenon.” Older generation? LOL. I’m not even thirty buddy.
I have “such a tough time understanding” not because of my age, but because I simply think it’s a waste of money. And during a time when we should all be saving more and spending less, the thought of someone forking over a couple bucks for a stupid image I could have easily snagged on Flickr to send to a “friend” over the interweb is completely and totally ludicrous. Even when the gifts are free like they are today, they still seems pointless and spammy to me.
Here’s an idea… you want to show me that you’re thinking of me? That you appreciate me somehow? Send me a frickin’ personal note saying so. Take me out for a REAL coffee or a REAL beer. Send me a picture that might jog a memory and inspire a smile. Or if you’re Facebook and “celebrating connections between people,” host local Facebook parties, give us a day on the website free of ads or offer us a valuable new tool that will enhance our Facebook experience.
Give me something of use. Something with entertainment value. Something that serves some purpose, sparks some emotion. It doesn’t have to cost a thing. But make some semblance of an effort. That silly graphic that took you exactly two seconds to send to me over Facebook? Yeah, that ain’t it.
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