1: Facebook Introduces One-Time Passwords Via Text | PC Magazine

Social Mediarology thinks: For as much flak as Facebook has received lately for their lack concern for users’ privacy, this is yet another step in the right direction. Facebook also recently released the ability to log out of other locations remotely and this One-Time Password feature is just another way Facebook really is looking out for their members. If you’ve ever felt nervous about logging into Facebook on a public computer, this is a great way to check in on Facebook without the worry.

2: Klout Now Measures Your Influence on Facebook | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: Klout’s influence score has become one of few widely-recognized and respected Twitter influence scores on the web today. You’ll find Klout’s scores baked into Twitter clients like HootSuite. Klout’s foray into Facebook is interesting because while finding a definitive influence score for Twitter or Facebook is nearly impossible, it seems much more difficult to do so for Facebook, where there are many more variables to take into account that for Twitter.

3: Skype 5.0 Busts Out of Beta, Integrates Facebook Friends | Engadget

Social Mediarology thinks: There have been rumors for a few weeks about the integration of Skype and Facebook and half of the equation is now solved. With the 5.0 release of Skype, Windows users can log into Skype and bring all their Facebook friends with them. Then next step will be Facebook pulling Skype into their own chat application to create Skype-enabled text, audio and video chatting. While many businesses are starting to use Skype more and more, their integration with Facebook will bring more users to Skype.

4: URL Shortener Bit.ly Now Generates QR Codes | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: QR codes are gaining popularity with the advent of mobile apps that can easily scan this new style of barcode. Foursquare even allows users to scan a QR code that will check them in to a location. While QR codes are still in their infancy, they are becoming more common and Bit.ly has done themselves a great service by making QR code creation so simple (just append .qr to the end of a Bit.ly URL and they’ll display your QR code. Take a picture of the one above using a QR code scanning app on your mobile phone and it’ll redirect you to SocialMediarology.com.

1: Facebook Ads Become Dramatically More Transparent | AllFacebook

Social Mediarology thinks: This is a simple but beneficial change for Facebook users and for advertisers. The ad’s URL only displays if it’s taking you off Facebook.com. So you still won’t know exactly where the on-site ads will take you, but this is a great step forward in transparency for all Facebook users.

2: Windows Live Outsources Blogging, Migrating 30 Million Users To WordPress.com | TechCrunch

Social Mediarology thinks: Four years ago, Microsoft launched Windows Live Spaces, a blogging platform for Live.com users (the successor to MSN and what preceded Bing). Over the past four years, WLS has racked up 30 million users and starting now, those users are being migrated over to WordPress.com – the world’s largest blogging site. This is a great move for Microsoft, because it will give their users more robust features through the WordPress interface and it allows Microsoft to focus their efforts where they’re more urgently needed (Windows 7 phone?)

3: Get at Clue: What do People Remember About Your Site? | ReadWriteWeb

Social Mediarology thinks: Clue is a great free web design usability tool that can help you as you’re in the process of redesigning your website. Enter the URL you want to test into Clue and they’ll spit out another URL for you to share for feedback. Users are given five seconds to view your page then they’re asked what they recall from the page. Each Clue ‘test’ is live for 48 hours and results are easy to view – just add a + to the end of the test URL and you can see the results.

4: Don’t Let the Intern Run Your Social Strategy | Travel 2.0

Social Mediarology thinks: Troy does it again with another great post about managing your company’s social strategy. While interns may have a greater degree of technical knowledge, they shouldn’t necessarily be the front-lines of your social strategy. The first step toward a successful social strategy is buy-in from the top of your organization.

1: 10 Things You Need to Know About Facebook Places | Travel 2.0

Social Mediarology thinks: Travel 2.0′s Troy Thompson has some great points here. My favorite is #7, where he talks about using Facebook Places to help companies understand the new tripecho effect.

2: How to Use Facebook Places for Your Business | AllFacebook

Social Mediarology thinks: Three easy steps to create, claim and integrate your Place with your existing Facebook Fan Page. One caveat, you’ve got to use a mobile version of Facebook to do this – you’ll need to use your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android or Blackberry app.

3: All Hail the Gmail | GigaOm

Social Mediarology thinks: Respected tech journalist, Om Malik, thinks Google’s introduction of a Call Phone feature in all US Gmail accounts isn’t a real threat to Skype, but is just another way in which Google is quietly using their flagship email platform as a launching pad to be come more of a social company. I’m inclined to agree.

4: The State of the GeoSocial Universe | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: This is a great infographic that shows the relative size of prominent social media and email platforms – and how many mobile users they each have – in relation to the number of mobile devises worldwide. I had no idea more people used Skype than Facebook.

1: Facebook Places Makes Location a Commodity | ReadWriteWeb

Social Mediarology thinks: With Wednesday’s release of Facebook Places, what does this mean for location-based services in general and for Foursquare and Gowalla specifically? This post hints at the idea that the commoditization of location that Facebook Places could provide might just allow services like Foursquare and Gowalla to focus on providing rich features to users, rather than having to spend so much time on location accuracy.

2: The 8 Wrong Questions PR Firms are Asking About Social Media | Convince and Convert

Social Mediarology thinks: Instead of clamoring to make sure you can provide social media service to your clients, make sure you can provide the RIGHT social media service to your clients. These tips can be extracted for whatever industry you happen to work in, not just if you work at a PR firm.

3: 100 Free High Quality WordPress Themes: 2010 Edition | Smashing Magazine

Social Mediarology thinks: Smashing Magazine delivers a fantastic list of 100 free WordPress themes. Take a look through to find what you’re looking for. Read our How To: Choose a Blogging Platform for Your Organization post to see if WordPress makes the most sense for your business.

4: BlogIndiana 2010

Social Mediarology thinks: We’ll be out of the office today at Blog Indiana 2010. This great event, now it it’s 3^rd year, features 35 different speakers from across the country talking about all kinds of digital topics, from blogging to social media and everything in between. If you missed this year’s event, be sure to check it out in 2011.

1: Twitter’s Official Tweet Button Has Arrived | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: It’s been a long time coming, but Twitter has finally released their own Twitter Tweet button. They’re even working with TweetMeme (the most popular Retweet button out now) to support the button. One caveat – you can’t use your 0wn URL shortener (bit.ly or others), as all Tweets are wrapped in Twitters proprietary t.co shortener, but on the plus side, once a user retweets your content, they have the option of following you and up to one other associated account. Click on the tweet button at the top of this post and you’ll see that you have the option to follow @JeremyAWilliams and @SocMediarology after you’ve tweeted! Below is a video that walks through the Twitter Tweet Button features.

2: Facebook’s Foursquare Competitor is Imminent | CNET

Social Mediarology thinks: Facebook has been hinting at location-based integration for some time now and it looks like it may become a reality soon. The most interesting part of this? The potential that this will be baked in directly with a reworked Facebook Events.

3: Now You Can Follow Twitter Users Without an Account | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: In an effort to increase the reach of Twitter to consumers without a Twitter account (see the Twitter X-Factors section of our Subscribers, Fans and Followers post for more information about Twitter’s true reach) Twitter launches Fast Follow. Simply text “follow [username]” (without quotes) to 404040 and you’ll receive their tweets via SMS – even if you’re not a Twitter user. Try it out, text “follow SocMediarology” to 40404 to get our updates!

4: 3 Ways Facebook’s Pending Page Changes Affects Marketers | Hubspot

Social Mediarology thinks: Starting on Monday, August 23, Facebook will make some permanent changes to Facebook Pages. Among those changes are the elimination of boxes and the narrowing of custom tabs. If your organization has a Facebook Page, be sure to see if these changes will affect you.

Bonus! Here’s a fifth story you should check out from this week:

5: Foursquare Sorts Tips by Popularity | Foursquare Indy

Social Mediarology thinks: This is a welcome improvement to Foursquare. With 2.6 million users, some useless tips had been cluttering up more helpful ones as Foursquare used to sort their tips chronologically with the newest tip first. This will help clear out the clutter and will make the valid Foursquare tips even more important.

1: The Social Media Cheatsheet | Daily Bloggr

Social Mediarology thinks: Great, simple infographic that details what 10 different social media sites are good for – from Customer Communication and Brand Exposure to Traffic to Your Site and SEO.

2: Android Now Top-selling Smartphone Operating System | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: While it’s important to note that there are only 4 versions of the iPhone (and only one manufacturer) and there are countless versions and manufacturers of Android devices, this is still very important to note. No longer can you simply focus on an iPhone app for development – Android must be top of mind as well.

3: How to Create a Killer Social Media Strategy | Business Insider

Social Mediarology thinks: The short answer is to focus your activities to the social media platforms that matter. If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at your competitors and see what successes and setbacks they’ve experienced.

4: RIP Google Wave | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: Google Wave, possibly the most hyped tech-related launch of 2009, was just officially discontinued. It will be supported through the end of 2010. It just seems that Google can’t figure out how to get an edge in the Social market – with the failure of Wave and the relative small use of Buzz. For more thoughts on Google, check out my “Has Google Lost Its Edge?” post from earlier this year.

1: The Ultimate List: 300+ Social Media Statistics | Hubspot

Social Mediarology thinks: While this is a somewhat dated list (May, 2010) there’s still a wealth of information to be found here. My favorite stat: Nearly 30% of all link sharing is done via Facebook (24%) and Twitter (10.8%).

2: Old Spice Sales Double with YouTube Campaign | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: The old economists’ adage that “correlation does not equal causation” is certainly true in this case, but you can’t argue that the campaign has contributed to sales. If nothing else, it created a tremendous amount of brand awareness.

3: Google Introduces Location-Aware Mobile Display Ads | TechCrunch

Social Mediarology thinks: This could be huge for any tourism-related business. Attractions, hotels, restaurants, etc. This brings the location-awareness of apps like Foursquare to the general public.

4: 5 Critical Web Metrics to Keep a Close Eye On | ReadWriteWeb

Social Mediarology thinks: These are five great metrics. Some related to your website, some to Facebook and some to Twitter. Do you notice you have more Daily Active Uses on Facebook when you ask questions? Post more? Offer discounts? Check out the insights for your Facebook Fan Page at Facebook.com/Insights and unclick Total Likes to get a better look at your Daily Active Users.

Bonus! Here’s a fifth story you should check out from this week:

5: The Time for Foursquare Marketing is…Later? [STUDY] | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: We’ve been talking about Foursquare a lot lately and so have many other people. Mashable reports that

Only 4% of the adult, Internet-using population has used any kind of location-based service, and just 1% of all adults check into a location at least once a week.

While that’s true, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least think about integrating Foursquare into your marketing efforts. Especially if your target demographic is more likely to have a Foursquare account.

1: Beyond Foursquare: What Search Engines Could Do With Location Data | New York Times

Social Mediarology thinks: This is great news for consumers everywhere. With proper integration, Google Maps may, by default, look a lot like FourWhere.com (Read our post about FourWhere here), and search results could have some great location-based tips baked right in (Check out our post about Bing Maps’ Foursquare layer here).

2: Status Update: Facebook Logs 500 Million Users | USAToday

Social Mediarology thinks: With half a billion users, Facebook shouldn’t be ignored. The good news is that more and more organizations are joining Facebook every day in an effort to leverage the platform.

3: Is Email More Important Than Social Networks? | KyleLacy.com

Social Mediarology thinks: Kyle hits some great points in his post. In the end, the channel you use to communicate with your customers should depend on what your customers want.

4: 5 Mobile Commerce Trends for 2010 | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: With smartphone sales rising 49% in the first quarter of 2010, mobile technologies are here to stay. Here are some trends to keep an eye out for through 2010.

1: How the Old Spice Videos are Being Made | ReadWriteWeb

Social Mediarology thinks: You’ve probably see the commercials on TV, but the agency responsible for this campaign went into overdrive this week and cranked out more than 80 180 customized videos for celebrities as well as big (and little) names in social media. They’ve created a very viral campaign that doesn’t bash you over the head with Old Spice. But, like Doug Karr asks, will people buy more Old Spice because of it?

2: Facebook’s Open Graph and Like Buttons are Going Mobile | Mashable

Social Mediarology thinks: While this article is short on details, the idea of bringing Open Graph and the now-ubiquitous Like button to mobile is enticing, especially for businesses in the travel and tourism industries.

3: New Hootsuite Features Offer More Insight About Your Customers | ReadWriteWeb

Social Mediarology thinks: We’ve written about Hootsuite countless times before, and their addition of filtering by Klout (influence) scores or keyword are sure to help you focus on the right followers to engage.

4: The Top 5 Reasons to Switch from WordPress to Posterous | Posterous

Social Mediarology thinks: While we’re big fans of WordPress here, this post was quite convincing. If you’re looking for a user-friendly, if less robust and customizable, option for blogging, Posterous might just be for you.