How To Use Social Media To Find The Perfect Gift For Anyone

‘Tis the season of giving, but nothing kills the spirit of giving more than knowing that you have to get someone a holiday gift and having absolutely no idea what to get them. Lucky for you, the days of staring at the wall and contemplating what to get for those difficult people on your gift list are over. As long as you’ve got social media on your side you should be able to find a perfect gift for everyone on your list. And if all else fails, well, you can always settle for giving everyone Bacon Flavored Spread. There are two main reasons that you may be having trouble deciding what gift to get for someone—either you don’t know them well enough to know what they’d like or you know them well and are simply having trouble coming up with the perfect creative idea that is both thoughtful and original. We’ll deal with both of these issues. You don’t know the person well enough… When you don’t know a person well enough to get them the perfect gift social media can be your knight in shining armor. People list their interests on Facebook, they talk about them on Twitter and (if you’re friends online, or even if your not) some or all of this information will be public to you. So get online and start some holiday stalking to help you fill their holiday stocking! Do a little social research to find out what the person is into—what bands do they like? What are their favorite books? Favorite quotes? Favorite movies? Which celebs and musicians are they following on Twitter? When you get a better idea of a person’s interests it becomes a heck of a lot easier to think of a great gift idea for them. So when you get the secretary at your office a stuffed panda bear wearing a Duran Duran shirt and mini stuffed panda bear-sized purple rain boots she’ll be pleasantly surprised. "How did you know I love Duran Duran, pandas, purple and polyvinyl?!" You’re having trouble coming up with a gift that’s the perfect mix or thoughtful and creative… Once you know more about the gift recipient you’re ready to start coming up with a truly original and creative idea for what to give them. Maybe you even saw them Tweet about something they’d like as a gift, or seen a post on their Facebook wall that inspired a great gift idea. If not, you can turn to social media once again. If you’ve got a specific niche in mind (be it video games, sports, wine, or Duran Duran pandas) then head over to Twitter and find an influencer in that niche. You can try a site like Listorious.com to find top Twitter users on a variety of topics. Then, see if these influencers have any ideas. Maybe they’ve posted their own holiday gift ideas, or you can tweet them to ask if they have anything to recommend. The same goes for interest-related groups on Facebook. StumbleUpon also offers up some tips for Using StumbleUpon for Gift Ideas on their blog. Follow interests and channels, stumble gift ideas and more. Make social media your gift… There are also a number of gift options that let you actually turn the recipients social profiles into gifts. Check out Keepsy to turn a friend’s Instagram photos into a calendar, get your friend’s Twitter name printed on a t-shirt, offer to turn your friend’s Facebook profile into a book and more. Hopefully, using social media, you’ll be able to come up with the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday list. If you’ve got any great gift ideas feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments below. Happy holidays! Image: koya979 via Shutterstock Megan O’Neill is the resident web video enthusiast here at Social Times. Megan covers everything from the latest viral videos to online video news and tips, and has a passion for bizarre, original and revolutionary content and ideas.

Social Pro Daily

How To Use Social Media To Find The Perfect Gift For Anyone

The days of staring at the wall and contemplating what to get for those difficult people on your gift list are over. As long as you’ve got social media on your side you should be able to find a perfect gift for everyone on your list.

Megan O'Neill

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Megan O'Neill