Christmas Day happens to be great for online social networks, with millions of users sitting around the house playing with new gifts, showing online photos to family members and friends, or just surfing the net because there aren’t as many businesses open during this national holiday. Whatever the case may be, Facebook traffic in the UK peaked at an all time high on Christmas, 2008, just as it did last year.

Facebook, which has become the most visited social networking site in the UK, accounted for 1 in every 22 UK Internet visits, according to Hitwise. The market share for Facebook traffic on Christmas day nearly doubled from 2007 to this year, marking Facebook as a permeating and powerful online destination for users in the UK.

But who can take advantage of such traffic surges?

Many retailers this past holiday season turned to social media for a particular type of marketing push, relying on friends to help spread the word of products sales and other promotions. Facebook became an especially important marketing partner for a handful of retailers this year, including Dell and eBay. While this doesn’t necessarily relate back to Christmas Day activity, it is encouraging in the sense that time away from school and work often translates into time spent on social networks, so we may see even more marketing partnerships in the coming years.

Given the current economy and the decline in holiday spending, many retailers may be further encouraged to turn to platforms like Facebook for branding and advertising purposes. Christmas traffic itself can also be used towards the advantage of many retailers and developers alike. Even individuals hosting events promoted through Facebook manage to make use of such online traffic surges, and I’m guessing your Facebook message inbox reflects this throughout the entire holiday season.

Any other ways you can think of that Facebook leverage holiday traffic?