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>>ANCHOR: Yes Virginia, Santa Claus is on Facebook. Technology and social media are
changing the way people shop for the holidays. As Scott Patterson shows us, it's not just
Santa who's keeping an online list.
>>MOVIE CLIP: I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred-shot range model
air rifle.
>>SANTA: You'll shoot your eye out, kid!
>>REPORTER: Imagine how much easier Ralphie's quest would've been today.
>>NEIL HAIR: I would imagine that Ralphie would've probably set up a Twitter feed. Start
talking about why he wanted this BB gun so much.
>>REPORTER: RIT marketing professor Neil Hair specializes in social media.
>>NEIL HAIR: Santa's most certainly on Facebook. If you go in and do a quick search for him
you'll find he's actually on a number of fan pages.
>>REPORTER: The Internet made its mark on holiday shopping a decade ago, changing the
traditional Christmas list.
>>KING KEARSE: You can e-mail it. E-mail it to your mother, e-mail it to your father.
Everybody's dealing with Internet and e-mail now.
>>REPORTER: But these days, social media is taking it even further, in some cases taking
the place of Black Friday fliers.
>>NEIL HAIR: A lot of the major retail outlets now are using Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
feeds to reach out to a wider network.
>>REPORTER: Hair says it's not just about offering you deals, but also a way for retailers
to get information on what you want. And unlike Santa Claus, they really don't care if you've
been nice or naughty.
>>NEIL HAIR: People are becoming marketers for them. They're talking about the things
that they love about their products. They're talking about the problems that they're facing.
>>REPORTER: Not everyone's a fan of social media\'s effect.
>>JOYCE WILLIAMS: I like the fliers. Like to go through see the visual actual thing
in the advertisement.
>> TOM WILLIAMS: I think it brings out more the spirit of Christmas when you write an
actual letter.
>>REPORTER: For better or for worse, the trend isn't going away. And there's no denying Ralphie
might have had better luck if he'd posted his wish on Facebook.
>>NEIL HAIR: It might be that the CEO of the company that actually produces this equipment
might have said 'well hang on a minute, this little guy really does want one, let's get
one over to him as quickly as possible!'
>>SANTA: Merry Christmas. Ho, ho, ho.
>>REPORTER: Scott Patterson, YNN.