Social technologies flatten culture, leading to multiple Thanksgivings & Canadian Black Friday.

If we were acquainted when I was furnishing my baby’s room, you know my deft eBaying  and Amazoning abilities. You also know my fury when confronted with absurd shipping charges and companies that “can’t” ship to Canada.

Online shopping is the lifeline of people in comprised retail situations (cough, Winnipeg, cough). And with Twitter flattening culture, Canadians (and I assume the world) are absorbing holidays, events, and national moods on a level never imagined by the CRTC. We’re basically going to do Thanksgiving twice this year because, I mean, why not?

When a giant American event like Black Friday goes down, the global marketing machine unavoidably affects the rest of us. And nothing ticks off a customer more than when major brands offer deals to some folks and not to us. (I’m talking to you, Best Buy. Shame on your $30-off iPods).

To combat the strong dollar’s pull on cross-border shoppers, some Canadian outposts are offering online Black Fridays. I expect this custom, along with double turkey days, the ability to enter contests, and watching tv online (yeah, we still kinda don’t have that) will only grow as online consumer’s dismay at being left out of cultural events—amplified by social media—becomes a customer service problem for big brands. We can hear everything you’re saying, guys.