Google+ isn't a social network, it's actually a social layer. And it may soon become several different layers as the company is thinking about dividing it up into a number of more or less standalone platforms, according to a report in Forbes, citing Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice-president of products. Pichai didn't come out and say "we're dismembering Google+," but then Google execs' gnomic statements about Google+ have always required a fair amount of parsing. Rather, what Pichai did say was "I think increasingly you'll see us focus on communications, photos and the Google+ Stream as three important areas, rather …

Social media is a relatively minor source of information for new car buyers, including persons age 32 and under, according to new data from MaritzCX, a customer relationship data company that surveyed more than 60,000 people about their automotive purchase habits.

This week Monster announced the official launch of Monster Social Ads, a social recruitment advertising service on Twitter, which had its initial beta launch in November 2014 and is now universally available in the U.S. According to the company, Monster Social Job Ads offers automated distribution of selected jobs to targeted candidates among the full Twitter audience, meaning outside of the company's own followers.

Customer service is rapidly migrating from the telephone to an array of digital channels, led by social media, Web chat, mobile apps, and online video, reflecting customers' evolving technology and expectations. That's according to a new report from Dimension Data, which surveyed 901 organizations with customer contact centers in 72 countries around the world about their plans for the next two years.

People love to predict things online, and in general, apparently for the joy of being publicly proven wrong. The Academy Awards are no exception, with social media users issuing all kinds of guesses for winners in various categories, and failing more than half the time. Using data from Facebook, Twitter, Adobe and Hootsuite, Variety compared social media forecasts with actual winners and found that just 13 out of 29 predictions were on the money.

YouTube is preparing to unveil a new, free app just for kids, called (duh) YouTube Kids. Set to launch February 23 for Android devices, YouTube Kids features a kid-friendly interface, banishing comments and other distractions, with little scrolling needed. Parental controls allow parents to set a limit on viewing time with passwords.

The latest edition of the CMO Survey from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business had good news and bad news where social media is concerned. The poll of 288 chief marketing officers across the U.S. showed they realize the importance of social media, and plan to boost their spending on it accordingly -- but at the same time are still mostly lost when it comes to demonstrating its impact on sales.

The terrorist group Islamic State, better known as "the worst people in the world," has shown itself expert in its use of social media to further its horrifying cause -- using channels like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to disseminate propaganda, raise funds, entice new recruits, and inspire fear with video and images of its atrocities. And while defeating ISIS will doubtless require a substantial military effort, the U.S. and UK are also taking the fight to social media with "counter-messaging" intended to discourage recruiting and publicize the misery of ordinary people living under the ISIS reign of terror.

While many marketers confess to still being stumped when it comes to measuring social media's return on investment, at least one major brand seems to feel pretty confident about it: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the flagship carrier of the Netherlands, long a standout for its forward-thinking social media strategy.

There's an app for thai stick! After being totally uptight and not cool about the whole thing, Apple has finally relented and lifted its ban on MassRoots, the social network app for marijuana fans, the company reported on its blog last week. Apple originally gave MassRoots the boot back in November, citing a policy against "apps that encourage excessive consumption of alcohol or illegal substances."