I’m thick, I admit. It takes me longer sometimes to come to terms with new concepts. Social media gift giving is on area I have yet to fully come to terms with.  It is money for nothing.  Or is it?

For the rest of the class: Social media sites (MySpace, Facebook) allow users to connect and inter-connect with friends (and strangers) in a number of ways.  One application allows you to give a gift to a friend.  There’s a gallery of images and - get this - you pay $1.00 to send it to another person.  What does the receiver get? An image and your message. 

When you care enough to send the very best…

Seems like a killer application to me. If I could get all my loyal readers to spend $1.00 to click through and send me a four leaf clover or a piece of sushi or a traffic cone or a baby chick then in time those would add up. 

And hence the incredible promise of social media.  People pay to send a picture to a friend. They are that attached to the network and its reality. 

Send me a dollar.  I’ll email you a picture - what do you want? The slice of pizza? The inflatable shark?

PS: Have any of the global brands realised not one of those gifts is branded???