"Merry Christmas Darling, I'm just changing your profile picture and updating your status."

Holidays and whatnot are pretty much about 3 things: delicious food, canceled flights (especially if you’re in Western Europe) and spending time with loved ones…right? And while the weather may be complicating the situation for some, social networks may be here to help (thank Zuckerberg). But don’t just go along writing “I miss you blah blah blah” on the Facebook wall of your sweetheart, get a bit creative !

Now I realize that there are a number of couples that don’t like to display their relationships on Facebook – but for the rest of you, here are a few examples of how couples used social networks in a very special way.

1. The man who used a twist of Alexandre Oudin to wish his girlfriend a happy birthday with a new profile picture.

Grégory Pouy, who is head of social media at Nunrun, decided to surprise his girlfriend, Michelle Chmielewski (who happens to be the community manager at Synthesio), with a new profile picture on Facebook. When Michelle woke up on the day of her birthday and went to update her status, there was Greg – sprawled out across the top of her Facebook profile holding a sweet birthday message. Kudos to Greg for an original idea that is way better than the average card. Still, if you want to try this at home, you’ll have to figure out a creative way to get ahold of your special someone’s password !

2. The man who proposed to his girlfriend on the iPad.

Maybe you remember the story of Zach Iniguez (pictured in the upper left corner with his fiancée) from earlier this year ? Yeah, he’s the guy who proposed to his girlfriend with a series of images on the iPad. We never got ahold of the actual photos but he’s definitely inspired a lot of others. There are tons of videos of YouTube of “iPad proposals” and “iPad weddings” – even some guy who appears to be tweeting or texting during the vows of his own wedding (and oddly enough his wife doesn’t seem too upset !). Still, Zach’s technique may be harder for those who have a bit of distance between them. And you don’t necessarily need to use something made with the stamp of approval from Steve Jobs – any old digital frame should do the trick.

3. The man who proposed to his girlfriend using Foursquare, Facebook and Qik (on the iPhone).

So, if you ask me, this one take the cake by far. Digg’s Matt Van Horne proposed to his girlfriend earlier this year using a multi-platform approach that combined Facebook, Foursqaure and Qik. He used Foursquare to broadcast his location and then had a friend livestream the romantic moment on Facebook via Qik on his iPhone. Here’s the video :

So not to panic if you still don’t have an incredible gift for the special someone or if you are caught up in the airport closures – you may still be able to find an original way to show that you care. I think it’s interesting that these social network-based initiatives seem to come mostly from men but maybe I’m wrong ? Regardless, I’m sure there are more of these types of stories out there – don’t hesitate to share them in the comments or shoot me an email if yours is really good.

Now that I think about it, I probably should’ve published this closer to Valentine’s Day but hey, now you have a whole month to get a creative idea together. You can thank me later.