The following stories topped my list as the most important social media news of the week:

Verizon iPhone Announced:

Many AT&T haters/iPhone lovers have been hoping, speculating, and anxiously waiting for the Verizon iPhone announcement. At a Verizon press event on Tuesday, the Verizon iPhone was finally announced. The details:

• The iPhone 4 will be available through Verizon on February 10, 2010 (available for preorder online on or around February 3rd)
• The iPhone 4 will cost $199.99 for the 16GB model, and $299.99 for the 32GB model with a new two-year service contract.
• A feature AT&T doesn’t offer: The Verizon iPhone 4 will support personal hotspot services, allowing up to five devices to share the iPhone’s 3G data connection.
• For those who can wait: The Verizon iPhone 5 is expected to be released in July.

Foursquare Launches New Business Pages:

Foursquare has created a new area on their site called Foursquare for Business. Foursquare for Business is dedicated to teaching business users how to get started, claim a venue, and make the most of Foursquare. This section also encourages businesses to offer specials for users and/or mayors. On Thursday, Foursquare launched an Ambassador Card Program to recruit more businesses.

Tumblr Opens Up Shop in RVA:

This week, popular blog platform Tumblr opened the doors to their new office in Richmond, Virginia. Headquartered in NYC, Tumblr chose Richmond for their second office location. President John Maloney and Creator/Product Director David Karp came to town for the opening. Last night, Tumblr hosted a meet and greet close to their new digs at Legend Brewing Company. The event was packed full of people welcoming Tumblr to town.

MySpace Downsizes:

MySpace downsized by 47% this week.  500 some jobs out the door. As USA Today explained,

“The rapid rise and fall of MySpace underscores a classic cautionary tale in the tech industry: The high-flying startup that comes crashing down to Earth when the next big thing — in this case, Facebook — comes along.”

It appears that parent company NewsCorp may be looking to sell.  MySpace CEO Mike Jones put out a statement, which included “Today’s tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability.”

NewsIe In Beta Testing:

A new social media platform, NewsIe, launched (for beta testing only) this week. The concept: social news. Social news on Twitter and Facebook normally involves friends sharing news and blogs they’re interested in. With NewsIe, you choose the people you’re interested in and get news and blogs about them. You start by importing your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn friends and selecting famous actors, musicians, politicians, and business people you’d like to follow. Then, NewsIe will provide real time news and blogs mentioning those people.

-Anna (@alucas9)