A report in the blog Inside Social Games from TrialPlay states that; “...in the days leading up to Mother’s Day, promotional offers dubbed “gifts for mom” generated around $1 million per day”. This revenue was mostly from the sales of flower deliveries for Mom’s around the world.

This action was a boost of 5 times the action usually received by game developers, as they capitalized on our love of Mom…

Two things are interesting about this information: First, it points to the value that we place on supporting each other with real gifts. And second, it demonstrates that we will use online tools to share in the giving process with each other.

And where do most real gifts get distributed within families? At parties and other social gatherings. In fact, there was almost $15 billion spent on real gifts this last Mother’s day and nearly 20% was spent online!

The value of the new internet tools like Facebook, Amazon and PayPal is that we can use the web to share gifts with even the most distant loved ones. We can celebrate important events right from our computer.

These are the reasons that we have such a passion for online parties…

We see a day when everyone can use this platform for sharing real gifts on Mother’s Day and every other important holiday. We are happy to be on the leading edge of this effort.

My father never took me fishing, even though I grew up in the country. We raised cattle, we had a fully stocked pond, I rode horses and a raised a donkey, but I never considered myself a farmer or a fisherman.

Maybe this is why I have trouble understanding these virtual farm games on Facebook, and the idea that a virtual payment is a sustainable business model.

Yet, people are buying virtual items to build a farm, fill a fish tank or fleece a mob boss in large numbers. While all this pretend work is occurring, there are companies making hay with these new virtual currencies.

Facebook is exploring a way to make more of a cut from the estimated 16 billion dollar virtual goods industry with a “Pay with Facebook” program.

In fact several Facebook executives think that a payment system within the network could make more money than advertising.

While I agree that a payment system structured like the PayPal model would be a great service to Facebook users, I feel that selling real products makes for a better long term opportunity.

But for now, most of the investment money is chasing the virtual farmers and pretend hit men of social gaming. In fact, “the investment activity in the virtual goods sector in 2009 has more than tripled from that of 2008”. As reported in the Social Times blog.

A sustainable payment system will need to be built around buying real things, just like PayPal supports. How long will people stay down on the virtual-farm once they learn a way to buy some real items through their Facebook account?

There are millions of families gathering together to share the details of their life on Facebook every day. The numbers are pointing toward huge generational connections in this space and soon retailers will discover ways to integrate commerce into the social fabric. Eventually we will find ways to share real products with those we love on Facebook, and this will require a convenient payment system.

If Pay with Facebook is structured to facilitate the financial transactions of e-commerce, then this is a business model that I can get behind.

Inside Social Games suggest that the U.S. market for virtual goods will reach $1.6 billion in 2010. That is a nice number, but when you consider that just the “gift segment” of total US retail sales is over $106 billion dollars, Facebook could plow some fertile ground with proven sustainability. And the harvest would yield a bigger return for the investment community.

It is a nice diversion to pretend to fill a fish tank with your laptop, but virtual goods will never replace the value of sharing something real with someone you care about.