facebook closes doors on gifts
The relentless “Please accept this gift — I got it just for you” requests are going to be a thing of the past. The Facebook virtual gifts that have taken over our wall (along with Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc) appear to not have survived the economic downturn as effective August 1, 2010, the Facebook Gift Shop is closing its doors. Is this a Bold or welcomed move?
Facebook Gift Shop Closure
This, for many, is a welcomed closure, however, this seems like a bold move by Facebook considering the incredible growth and overwhelming usage throughout the world. One can only speculate that the popularity of giving gifts has diminished with the ability to block Facebook apps and gift givers were losing money/Facebook Credits. The gifts that were given and accepted will remain on your wall even after the store closes.
Facebook Credits
Facebook Credits, the virtual currency for premium items, games and apps, was born from the “gift credits.” Originally, gift credits were $1.00 each and the gifts were assigned a dollar value. Thereafter, it was changed to Facebook Credits which is a system whereby users would purchase 100 credits $1.00 and could use the credits to give a gift or “reward” by giving them 10 credits for posting a good status update. While I have never been rewarded with credits for a good status update, I cannot confirm if this is still something that is practiced. Then again, I have never purchased credits nor sent a gift.
This is a good move by Facebook as they are able to concentrate their resources on the games. The partnership with 7-11 for the Farmville branded water and I believe Big Gulp cups certainly was an indicator of the popularity of the games and also could be hint why the gift store is closing.
What do you think? Is this just a chance to cut the losses on gifts and to monetize the games?
photo credit: markus.pacher