I am intrigued by virtual gifting ever since I went to a Social Media conference that was housed with an online dating conference. Yes, I know an interesting combo! But as I walked through their solution conference, I found some interesting items!
First, let’s start at the beginning. Per Wikipedia, a virtual gift is a picture of an item, instead of the item itself. The item may have a digital social capital value, esthetic or functional value. The item may or may not be paired with an offline equivalent.
This HEX necklace was the first virtual gift that I created for an IBM event….it is a HEX necklace!
Second, people love them! 57 % believe virtual gifting is as meaningful as real life gifting. WOW!
Third, it drives money. It is about 10% of Facebook’s revenue from the beginning in 2007. (Couldn’t find any new factoids!)
Fourth, I want to see what you guys think about virtual gifting. Are you using it? See below what we created for my team mates below.
