In online worlds, the thought and the gift are social currency

For Christmas, Christine Louie has already found a pair of pointy red shoes for her girlfriend, tucked them into a pink box with a white bow and slipped them under the tree. Only her friend will never wear the red shoes. Nor will she match them with her clothes, store them in her closet or exchange them for a better-looking pair of shoes. In the latest example of how our real world is colliding with the online one, Louie’s gift exists only on the Internet on her friend’s Facebook page. Per Louie’s instructions, it can be “opened” on Christmas, when the gift wrap can be removed to reveal the red shoes.