Virtual Gifts?

What is the value of a virtual gift?  Facebook, MySpace, and other Internet services sell virtual gifts that users can sent to other users as a way of wishing them a happy birthday or a variety of other reasons.  However, are virtual gifts really worth the money?  After all, people are just paying for pixels to send to their friends, which is virtually free to services such as Facebook.  In fact, 60 million of these virtual gifts have been purchased on Facebook generating third party sales of $35 to $50 million.  A spokesman for virtual gifts has said the following about the value of these gifts:

"The pixels themselves don't cost anything, but I think the reason they've been effective is that it ties into a deep psychological value.  The fact that there's a price associated with these new gifts that we're launching sort of just amplifies that message."

As far as I am concerned, paying for a virtual gift is a little ridiculous but a brillant move for those who are selling them as the profits are high and the costs of production are microscopic.  If I want to communicate a message of deep psychological value to another person, I'll talk to them face to face and not facebook to facebook.  However, considering the popularity of these virtual gifts and the spirit of the holiday season, here is a virtual gift of my own from me to you: