Give a virtual gift of 1 USD to become a fashion

More and more people are willing to give up real money to buy for friends, family and co-workers of gifts that they don't have to pack, can't wear, play or hold, because they simply don't exist. real world.

Facebook users, the second largest social network in the world after MySpace, spent a total of $ 24 million to buy such gifts.

" For the recipient of the gift, they feel like they receive a medal of honor, " said Dave Coffey, an expert in Sapient's online trend, an American company. Coffey itself is also involved in the trend of "buying virtual goods worth 1 USD". He just bought a pair of happy birthday shoes for his wife, a can of energy drink to share with his new friend and a beer mug to his boss for losing a bet.

All of these are just funny icons that are listed in the "Gifts" section of the recipient's personal page. Since appearing on Facebook in February so far, they have only been released in very limited numbers to increase the speciality. As a result, Facebook has collected $ 24 million in revenue as mentioned above.

In other virtual worlds such as Second Life, Utherverse or Stardoll, it is easy to give each other "coupons" for purchases so that the characters of friends or relatives can go shopping in certain areas within 3D environment.

Some gifts can be purchased from Facebook.Photo: Wikimedia .

Like real life, beauty care is the leading need of most netizens. The gifts in the form of clothes, jewelry or even furniture (for men and women in the game) are very diverse. To have a pair of shoes, you have to spend from 2 to 3 USD, or to take care of the skin (redesign the outer cover for the character), the amount of up to 20, 30 USD.

Jeff Roberts, who lives in New York (USA) and is one of 11 million members of the Second Life community, gave his friends and colleagues lots of coupons. "Just a few clicks are done. You never have to worry about the cost of fast or misleading shipping in the post office," Roberts, who is managing director of a radio station in Second Life, said show.

Kel Kelly, a businesswoman in Boston (USA), also calculated that she spent almost 100 USD on buying . icons of wine bottles from Facebook.

" Anyone can send an e-mail to a customer with a Congratulations on becoming a partner ," Kelly said. " But with a bottle of virtual wine is quite special. The recipient can then display the bottle on his personal website ."

While items on the Facebook page have a $ 1 price tag, Kelly said she is willing to spend $ 5 to $ 10 for really unique "items."

Nguyen Ha