This one’s a bit delayed, but here are some links worth reading from the last couple weeks, in the world of social media:

News & Research:

• Facebook app vendor WildFire was acquired by Google: http://blog.wildfireapp.com/2012/07/31/wildfire-is-joining-google/
• New age/gender targeting profiles coming to FB pages: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/07/31/facebook-to-introduce-additional-targeting-for-page-posts-including-age-and-gender-segmenting/
• On Twitter, $ signs are now clickable, giving quick access to stock and company info: http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/31/twitter-ticker-symbols/
• Hootsuite adds Storify app. Embed Twitter streams on third party sites: http://mashable.com/2012/07/31/hootsuite-storify-evernote-zendesk-app-plugins

 Education:

• CRM is social. Tools collect behavioral data surrounding a customer’s social presence, not just contact info: http://socialmediatoday.com/mlewis1/662736/customer-relationship-management-and-crm-going-social
• Who uses Twitter? Pew study dives into Twitter’s progress: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Twitter-Use-2012/Findings.aspx
•  How to leverage LinkedIn Groups: http://socialmediatoday.com/chuckhester/658581/businesslink-group-think-getting-most-out-linkedin-groups-part-1