MikeLortz.com/JordiScrubbings.com

There was an interesting post on Mashable.com the other day about a joint Facebook-Hallmark initiative to create testimonials in honor of Mother’s Day. The premise is simple: instead of a card, people use the Hallmark “Meet My Mom” page and send a warm and fuzzy greeting to their Mom or take a few minutes to tell the world how great their Mom is.

Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I actually like giving people things. Things they can touch and feel. Things they can put on their dresser or mantle or table or counter. Things they can say, “My son gave me that.” So count me out for the Mother’s Day social media extravaganza.

That said however, I wonder if helping out on Mother’s Day is only the beginning for Facebook. Maybe they have bigger plans for other holidays.

Think about this: every year people all over the world pour through their address books, rolodexes, and other assorted files for the names and locations of people they will send Christmas Cards to. They’ll buy the cards, the envelops, the stamps, the labels, and probably even pay for Christmas pictures of the kids to send as inserts. Then there is the hassle of going to the post office and all it entails.

What if Facebook partnered with Hallmark and did all that for you?

I know I am not the only person whose Facebook friends constitute 90% or so of the people I would send Christmas cards to. Save for my grandparents, my mother, and a few other second cousins here and there, everyone I know is on Facebook. I shouldn’t need to have all their addresses stashed away somewhere only to be dusted off once a year.

Here is what I think Facebook should do to make my Christmas card sending season easier:

1. Create a code that crawled through my friends’ profiles and let me know whose addresses are already in Facebook.
2. From those friends, generate a list so I can check who I want to send a card to.
3. Show me a menu of 6-10 Christmas card formats and allow me to select one.
4. Provide me a box to type in a message to all or if I choose, I can type separate messages to each.
5. Ask if I want to include a picture from my profile (especially handy for those folks with kids).
6. Ask if I want to input my address if it is not already in Facebook so other can send me cards.
7. Forward me to the Hallmark.com check out page.

(If they wanted to be really fancy, they could also alert me if any of my friends adds their address after I sent out my cards. Then I could have the option of going through the card sending process specifically for that person.)

It’s just that easy. I won’t have to write addresses, lick envelops, or even go to the post office.