Kenyan youth go for virtual Christmas gifts
Date 2012/12/25 14:47:21 | Topic: Kenya
| Aptly named Boxing Day, Dec. 26 is usually reserved for giving and receiving gifts after previous day's Christmas festivities.
On this day, most people give gifts, others wait to be gifted or taken for shopping to buy presents by their loved ones. The lucky ones, who had received gifts the day before, spend the day opening them.
In Kenya, things have not been different for several years as people, especially in urban areas, observed the day, which is a holiday, by gifting each other.
But entered mobile phones and social media and this tradition has changed tremendously, particularly among the youth.
They no longer give gifts or buy cards for their loved ones during Christmas and Boxing Day festivities, thanks to internet- enabled mobile phones and social networking sites mainly Twitter and Facebook.
All one has to do is to find a picture of a gift he would like to buy his friends or loved one and post it on Facebook or Twitter, with a message wishing them happy Christmas or Boxing Day.
As the clock ticks towards Christmas and Boxing Day, Nairobi resident Connie Wawire has already identified gifts that she would want to buy for her brother and a friend.
However, unlike previous years when the university student would have gone for shopping in search of the gifts, Wawire this time will download the pictures of the virtual gifts from the internet and send them to her friend and brother, also a university student.
"I am going to send my friend a virtual watch - I think a Rolex, and my brother a nice pair of sneakers. I believe these are perfect gifts that will suit them this festive season," said Wawire on Sunday.
The 22-year-old will go on her Facebook page and upload the photos and write a message to accompany the virtual gifts.
"I will post the message and the gifts on the eve of Christmas day to ensure that they do not miss reading and receiving them," said Wawire, who will use her mobile phone to perform the tasks.
But to ensure that they do not miss her virtual presents, Wawire will also send them text-messages and picture gifts on their mobile phones.
"I believe this is the best way to reach them. They are far. My brother travelled to our rural home with my father and my friend stays in Kisumu," she said.
Wawire noted she cannot go and buy the gifts since that is expensive and the presents may not reach them on time.
"I cannot afford to buy the items. I believe if I had gone that route, perhaps I would need about 117 U.S. dollars but with virtual gifts, all you spend is 0.05 dollar to download the photos, attach them on your message on Facebook. Then sending the message on mobile phone costs 0.01 dollar," said the student with a chuckle.
Equally, the student does not expect to receive any physical gifts from her friends.
On Boxing Day, Wawire will thus not be unwrapping gifts, but she will log on to her Facebook page to check what virtual presents her friends would have sent her.
"This is the best way to spread joy during this festive season. The method empowers one to reach out to as many people as possible, " she added.
Fred Ndungu, who also does not expect to receive physical gifts, said he has already sent to his friends a pre-Christmas message on social media.
"I posted the message on my Facebook wall and on my Twitter handle on Saturday. But I will post another specifically to my close friends. This one will be accompanied by specific virtual gifts, which I wish to buy for them," he explained.
The 24-year-old noted that with many of his friends having embraced social media sites, it does not make economic sense to buy gifts or send them cards.
Kenya has over 10 million internet users and about ten million people use social media sites.
"What for if you can do all that on social media and mobile phones without straining yourself or your pockets. That should be the essence of technology. We cannot continue operating the way people used to operate in 18 and 19 century yet there are new technologies like social media," he said.
Ndungu, who works at a call center in the capital, added that virtual gifts are nature friendly since they do not destroy the environment.
"Most times you will find people have thrown away gift boxes, which become environmental hazard. This cannot happen with virtual gifts," he noted.
However, while virtual gifts work well with their peers, Wawire and Ndungu noted that if they want to gift, for instance, their grandparents, they will have to revert to physical presents.
"My grandmother does not understand the social media phenomenon. So, I bought for her a pair of canvas shoes and send them through my parents," she said.
However, it is not only ordinary citizens who have taken to social media to send virtual gifts and Christmas messages. The ruling class and Kenyan elite also find the method convenient.
"My family and I would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May you all have a wonderful time and enjoy responsibly," wrote Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga's wife Ida on her Twitter handle on Sunday.
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