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Social media sites save consumers during holidays

Season's twitterings? For this gift-buying time of the year, let social network sites help you save on your holiday shopping.

Social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, and now Twitter, help the masses maintain connections with friends and family. Why not let social media help you save big on your holiday shopping?

This year, almost 50 percent of big retail chains are using sites like Twitter to reach out to consumers, building customer loyalty with each holiday discount they post.

Rachel Holland, a mother of three, a deal seeker and a Twitter fanatic reports in an ABC News report, "I got all of my kids Christmas presents at 75 percent off and I knew exactly when the sale started because of Twitter." She continues, "I feel great about the savings this Christmas, the holidays aren't a burden on it, and it's been wonderful."

Toys "R" Us Facebook followers learned of Black Friday deals before anyone else. Barbie Dolls that were half off, $4 DVDs and 80 percent off select children's toys. Facebook followers of Staples were offered $40 off Bluetooth headsets on Black Friday, and $130 off select GPS units.

So, when your anti-social media friends ask you why you enjoy Facebook and Twitter, be sure to alert them of the holiday-saving benefits.

In the United States, 45 percent of internet users will use social networks to compare products, research items and search for offers according to an ABC news article. If you don't have Facebook or Twitter but are ready to get started, simply go to each Web site and sign up for a free account. Once you are a member, type in your favorite stores in the search tabs of both Facebook and Twitter, and friend them. Voila! The stores will begin to send you tweets or notices about holiday discounts and secret sales.

Consumer savings sites are here to help all over the internet. Loren Bendele, CEO of Savings.com, an up-and-coming site states, "It's a community of people, it's a social network coming together to help each other save money, building that social network around deals, discounts, coupons and promotions, seeing people take off and leveraging all the new media like Twitter, we believed it would happen, but we didn't know it would happen this quickly."

Follow Consumer United on Twitter here.

Facebook dominates global online market

Facebook is the world's No. 1 social network--edging out MySpace, YouTube, Linkedin and Google's Orkut--according to figures released by comScore earlier this week.

The brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg, the San Francisco-based CEO who began Facebook in early 2004 as a Harvard-only SNS, has exploded as a global leader and platform for free expression.

The site has 132 million users with 63% outside North America. Facebook is translated into 20 different languages including French, Spanish and Mandarin and is extremely successful in terms of its ability translate content into so many languages. New members were up 153% in June when compared to the same month one year earlier.

While Facebook is a great way to reach out to old friends and connect overseas, there's an emerging backlash.

Most free Web sites offer a photo upload with an option to add a caption. End of story. Not on Facebook.

Here, users upload pictures, tag their name while adding their friend's name... even if their friend isn't a member of the online global network. People are learning that their personal information is ending up on Facebook without their approval or knowledge.

One may feel a "social connectedness" when networking on this site but some feel violated and confused. Facebook is encouraging users to share information that is, in essence, being used to send advertisements targeted to a specific demographic. This tactic is a serious red flag among many privacy advocates.

Click here for the lowdown. Also, go here to join Consumer United's Facebook group.