Facebook, get festive

So a little while ago (like, literally 5 minutes ago) I’m doing my morning Facebook check to see what my friends have been up to in the last 9 hours or so (Greg wants to be my friend, Courtney wants to see the ballet and 12 more of my sorority sisters are attending chapter dinner tonight, if you’re interested), when I had the greatest idea ever: Christmas decorations for Facebook.

There are a few apps that have their own take on this idea, but it’s the standard tree or decorations constrained by a box. It’s the same problem that has plagued developers since Facebook opened up its platform; applications must fit inside a small box on the left or right side of the profile. This has stifled the creativity of many Facebook developers, but I never fully understood how frustrating it was until I realized I could not spread holiday cheer to my Facebook profile.

However, being a very festive person, I persisted in my search, but to no avail. All the Christmas apps were made by outside sources, so they were subject to the same restrictions. The only apps that have the potential to go outside the boundaries of the box are those designed by Facebook itself.

And so I am begging, pleading, suggesting, hinting, challenging Facebook to make a special, limited edition holiday decoration application that will let me string garland and holly and shiny stars around my profile. Or maybe put a huge tree along one side, or a little snow village along the bottom. I want to decorate my profile the way you decorate a house. No one I know puts a candle in one window and calls it festive; you put candles in all the windows, and garland around the trim, and a wreath on the door.

Many people spend as much time on Facebook as they do in their dorm or house or apartment, so why shouldn’t we be able to decorate our online home as we would our real home? Macy’s has a very strong brand identity and image, but they decorate for the holidays. Let Facebook spread some cheer.

I am confident that this would catch on like crazy, so I’m calling on Facebook employees to help me. Leah Pearlman, Andrew Bosworth, Jared Morgenstern, Dave Morin, Joe Hewitt, Randi Zuckerberg. Chris Hughes and of course Mark Zuckerberg to develop a profile decorator for the holidays. Call it an early gift to all those loyal users who so naughtily sneak on Facebook all day at work…and so nicely blog about how Facebook is so much better than MySpace.