Do you have time to search the web everyday to find the newest social media tools? If the answer is no, then you have come to the right place. I have searched the World Wide Web for social media information all week, and stumbled upon a few favorites along the way. Here are my picks of the week:

Facebook Is Kind Of A Big Deal

On Wednesday, Facebook made a major announcement that will change the scope of geo-location services. Facebook announced they will be incorporating deals and rewards into Facebook Places, giving the over 200-million mobile Facebook users more reason to checkin on Places, and giving advertisers (Partnerships already include McDonalds, Starbucks, and REI) a way to reach the Facebook masses.

Look Out, Foursquare Cheaters!

During the same week as elections, Foursquare announced some “political” changes themselves. Foursquare has added a new feature that allows venue owners to revoke a mayorship if they believe the mayor won the title illegitimately. Reasons for mayorship removal includes being an employee, and checking in without actually visiting the venue (walking by/checking in from afar).

Ping Pangs?

Ping is growing fast, and Apple announced this week that Ping has “millions of users”. However, only 2,000 artists participate in the service. Mashable wonders what the long-term success will be with few artists participating, and notes,

“Back when Ping launched, people heralded it as a “MySpace Killer.” While MySpace may, in fact, be in the process of killing itself, it’s not because Ping has dominated it.”

It should be interesting to see how Ping grows, and if more artists sign on (I’m guessing more will). For now, my favorite part of Ping is seeing what friends purchase as another “genius” sort of way of finding new music.

Twitter Academia

For students who actively use Twitter for fun, it may distract from academics. However, when used in the classroom, a study found that Twitter can actually increase student engagement. Students participating in the experiment, which was conducted at Lock Haven University, were given assignments and discussions that incorporated Twitter. The results found that the use of Twitter increased student engagement more than twice as much as the control group.

How many Americans Actually Use Location Based Services?

A study released by Pew research this week stated that only 4% of adults in the U.S. use location based services. However, the study, which ran from August  9th through September 13^th, was worded oddly and was performed in the middle of the Facebook Places launch. Social media publications expect if Pew preformed the same study today.

-Anna (@alucas9)