By Ashley Hill, ahill@mariettatimes.com
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and, yes, there is an app for that.
Whether a person needs assistance making restaurant reservations, picking a movie to watch or finding the perfect gift to buy, there are apps for Facebook and Apple products for just about everything related to Valentine's Day.
An app launched by Seattle-based Thoughtful Inc. uses information from Facebook to determine people's likes and interests in order to come up with Valentine's Day gift ideas.
If a gift giver or recipient doesn't have a Facebook account, there's a game offered on www.thoughtful.co in which a person answers basic questions about the individual they're buying a gift for and suggestions are made.
There are many ways people will be able to incorporate technology into their Valentine's Day this year.
"(I'll) probably e-mail or Facebook everyone 'Happy (Valentine's) Day'," said Vincent resident A.J. Nuzum, 32. "I'm single and really have no reason to buy people flowers or candy (but) I can still be a little festive with it."
For those who want to do a little more than say "Happy Valentine's Day" in their status updates, there's a program on Facebook which allows users to choose from hundreds of virtual "gifts" to send to their Facebook friends. The options range from a picture of a red rose with the phrase "for you" to a picture of a puppy holding a red heart. The app has 5,505 monthly active users and received 4.6 out of 5 stars.
There's also a page that has been created on Facebook called "Valentine Day" which encourages people to reminisce about their first Valentine's Day with their significant other and share what their worst and best Valentine's Day presents ever received have been, among other things. A total of 9,323 people "like" the page.
Valentine's cards are, of course, a staple of the day, and there are slew of websites that allow people to send Valentine's Day-themed e-cards.
There are plenty of them to choose from on the American Greetings website, www.americangreetings.com. Some, such as one that features hamsters singing and playing instruments, are whimsical. Still, there are others that are more serious and romantic.
