Facebook Gifts: It’s all about safety
Facebook just announced “gifts,” which are little pictures that you can post on someone’s profile. The pictures are small icons designed by Susan Kare, who designed some of Apple’s original set of icons in the early 80’s. Each one costs a dollar to give, and the net proceeds go to breast cancer research.
This is a brilliant idea, and is another example of Facebook really understanding the type of communication that their network fosters. It extends the idea of poking, which was the start of a new “safe” method of contacting someone. In other words, if I want to contact someone, a poke is risk free. I don’t have to commit to a phone call (where my voice is on the line), I don’t have to commit to an email (where my words are on the line), and I don’t have to commit to a text message (where my message needs to be justified). To many Facebookers, a poke is the most casual way to let someone know that you’re thinking about them… until now.
‘Gifts’ give the users an excuse to get in touch with someone. They’re a reason for sending a message. A reason to remind someone of your existence. Calling someone you haven’t spoken with since high school is much harder than sending them a little sticker in the name of charity.
And speaking of charity, I think this is a great example of marketing for good. Social networks have a great deal of untapped potential energy, and this is a great way to harness communication itself for the good of breast cancer research!
February 10th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Charles-i think a lot of sites are going to find a way to incorporate some charitable activity into their service. For example, yesterday I learned about Goodsearch.com which donates dollars to the charity of your choice every time you use it.
dn
February 10th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Yeah! The cool thing about sites like Goodsearch.com is that you don’t really need to change anything about your everyday habits. You’re going to search anyway, so why not make it count towards charity? With an increasing number of congruous services out there to choose from (email providers, social networks, search engines, etc), perhaps the addition of these charity features will be the deciding factor for some users…
February 11th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Dear Charles,
I have been reading your blogs for a few years and finally you have written something that I can understand and relate to. Facebook gifts are brilliant and my hope is that more people start posting gifts and that the designated charities are able to reap the benefits.
Keep up the good stuff.
Leslie