According to the Detroit Free Press 1 out of every 6 Americans will participate in some form of online shopping today:  Cyber Monday.  Black Friday is the day when we stand pressed together in the dark waiting for doors to open at our favorite retail outlet. We race the aisles and grab and elbow our way to shopping nirvana.Today, Cyber Monday, is the day we do it from the comfort of our own home via the internet.

The Free Press Reports, “As Americans plug back in today after a long Thanksgiving weekend, nearly 1 out of every 6 adults will get out his or her credit cards for a holiday known as Cyber Monday and buy something online.

“That adds up to 30 million Americans who will take advantage of Internet deals today, according to Consumer Reports.”

Shop.org is credited with coming up with the term “Cyber Monday” back in 2005 after noticing that consumers were turning in droves to their computers on the Monday following Thanksgiving.

According to Shop.org, "Today, Cyber Monday is viewed as the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season, when shoppers flood websites expecting robust promotions and many retailers highlight some of their most compelling holiday offers."

According to a survey conducted by Shop.org 96.5 million Americans plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year, up from 85 million in 2008 and contrary to the fears of employers nationwide the survey says most consumers will shop from home and not from work:  91.5% of Cyber Monday shoppers will shop from home, while 13.5% say they will shop while at work.

Many retailers who are counting on Cyber Monday to boost sales will also be relying on social media such as Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word and direct consumers their way.

According to DigTriad.com up to 47% of retailers are looking to push better deals to online shoppers via social media.  

“Retailers like Sears, Walmart, Toys "R" Us and Best Buy, just to name a few, are offering deals on their Twitter pages. They're also taking customer service to the next level by directly responding to questions that folks like you may have about products or deals.

“But beyond following your favorite retailers, you can also use Twitter to search for deals.

“Try putting hashtags like #coupon, #promocode or #cybermonday into the Twitter search box.

“The results should lead you to some savings shortcuts.

 “Some retailers you might want to follow on Twitter:

 "Walmart: @WalmartSpecials

 “Sears: @SearsDeals

 “Best Buy: @twelpforce

 “Amazon: @amazon

 “Kmart: @KmartDealsnNews

 “Toys "R" Us: @ToysRUs”

 If you’re looking for a one-stop resource to online shopping try visiting CyberMonday.com which pulls together sales and bargains from all over the World Wide Web and organizes them in one site.

Several cites claim to pull together the best of all the ads, coupons and deals available online:They include CyberMonday.net, CyberMonday.fm, CyberMondayCentral.com, and Dealio.com.