Dec 12 2011
Liking, Tweeting, Sharing, Pinning and Joining: Social Media and the Holiday Season
By Emily Thomas
It’s December. We’re officially less than 20 days from Christmas, and our free time is consumed with festive activities – and from attending parties to baking treats, social media is playing a key role in the season.
Facebook and Holiday Parties
Attending a holiday party? You likely received your invitation via Facebook. “Join” the event, as in RSVP “yes,” and your projected presence will be shared on your news feed, which may influence another invitee’s decision to attend. If you become friends with another attendee after the event, your news feed will announce that the two of you became friends after attending the same holiday event.
In an effort to synergize your social agenda, you can also link your Facebook calendar to your smartphone calendar. How on Earth did you manage your holiday social calendar before Facebook?
The Modern Day Wish List
Remember the days of circling your most coveted items in the Sears catalog, then sending your hand-written wish list to Santa? Maybe as you got older, you emailed your loved ones a wish list in the form of an Excel document, complete with URLs of where the gifts could be purchased. Those days are long gone—with the development of online wish lists, like Amazon’s Wishlist—you can add your most desired items from around the internet to one central location. Like a wedding registry, your friends and family can then shop the list by entering your email address. Final step? You can share your wish list via Facebook and/or Twitter.
It’s also a popular practice to share individual items on your own page or, for those who aren’t fond of hinting around, on the pages of your friends and family.
Liking/Following = Holiday Discounts?
These days, seemingly every legitimate company has a Facebook fan page and/or Twitter account, and many will offer special holiday promotions to their fans and followers. Keep that in mind when you’re completing your holiday shopping!
Pinning: The New Kid on the Block
The new kid on the social media block, but quickly gaining popularity, is Pinterest. Pinterest is a network of online pin boards where each user can pin interesting items from around the web. Users can browse categories to view other users’ pins. Of course, with the holiday season upon us, a hot pinboard topic is anything and everything relating to the holidays. From recipes, decorations and party ideas, to coveted gifts, Pinterest users find inspiration everywhere.
Just like our various and sundry forms of communication, the way we celebrate the season has evolved. We turn to social media instead of the catalog, pen and paper. In exchange for dusting off your grandmother’s old cookbook to scour for new recipes, we hit up online pinboards. Maybe this year you’ll choose to send out e-cards instead of splurging on hard copies and postage. Whatever your M.O. for celebrating the season this year, remember to slow down, take the time to enjoy your loved ones and keep in mind that some traditions are worth keeping.
