Without offering any supporting data, Michael Arrington claims that consumers are losing patience with Facebook’s friend glut. “Lots of people say this is our own fault for showing zero restraint on adding friends over the years,” he writes. “But what seemed like a fun ‘sure why not, this is adventurous!’ in 2006 and 2007, when Facebook allowed open registrations now feels like a bad hangover.” Rather than trim their friend lists, Arrington says “many of us” are turning to new social networks, like Path (in which Arrington’s venture capital firm is an investor), and others. As it stands, “Facebook is …

Similar to social in 2008, some pundits suggest that mobile could be a key differentiator in this year’s presidential election. “The explosive growth in smartphone usage and the introduction of tablets since 2008 could make or break the candidates for president in 2012,” writes Network World. Which party has the upper hand? Perhaps neither, say analysts, as “the GOP and President Obama's campaigns are not yet making many mobile-specific connections to supporters via smartphones or tablets.” Some campaigns appear to have special links on their Web sites for getting updates via SMS to a phone, but, notes Network World, “they …

In still more Google news, the multifaceted Web giant just launched its U.S. elections portal. Just in time for the Iowa caucuses, the site features news, calendars, maps and videos, as well as online tools for voters, campaign organizers and reporters to use. “The Google.com/elections site's navigation allows browsing by candidate or issue,” ReadWriteWeb notes. “It also features a ‘Trends’ browser, showing how candidates are doing in Google search, Google News mentions and YouTube views, and an 'On the Ground' viewer showing stories overlaid on a map.” The Google Politics & Elections Google+ page will share the latest updates. According …

A foregone success or not, Google’s social network is growing. From November to December of 2011, Google+’s total monthly U.S. visits grew by 55%, according to the latest data from Experian Hitwise. What’s more, “Fledgling social network Google+ had its best traffic month ever in December with more than 49 million U.S. visits, a sign that the company’s bet on social is slowing paying off,” writes VentureBeat. The report is welcome news for Google following several studies showing traffic declines, “with one eye-popping Chitika study in October [which] had traffic falling 60 percent,” VentureBeat notes. Likely driving the turnaround, Google …