Zynga is losing its special status as a preferred game developer on Facebook, following a decision to revise the terms of their high-profile alliance, raising the possibility that Facebook --much the larger of the two partners -- may find its relationship with the casual gaming company a bit tiresome.

Depending who you ask, social media is either leading or lagging the Internet in general in terms of its growth rate, but one thing's for sure: they're both growing like crazy. In a recent, much-discussed forecast, BIA/Kelsey predicts that social media advertising spending will jump from $4.6 billion in 2012 to $9.6 billion in 2016, for a cumulative annual growth rate of 19%, with social display advertising of various kinds increasing from $3 billion to $5.4 billion over the same period.

All you Web-savvy social media mavens out there be warned: being really good at using social media to communicate will not exempt you from doing something really, really stupid. In fact, it may increase the chances.

"Facebook will hold a vote, possibly later this week, in which it will ask users to abolish their right to vote on changes to the social network's privacy policies." -- CNN.com An official communiqu from network headquarters, Palo Alto. Facebook members will doubtless have noticed numerous growing threats to our social network, including issues surrounding the stock price, difficulty establishing an effective mobile advertising model, and even the possibility of government regulation. In these uncertain times, our network needs strong leadership more than ever before.

While a lot of attention has been paid to instances of fraud, identity theft, and deliberate spreading of misinformation via social media, many users believe that social media actually makes people more honest by bringing greater transparency to relationships. According to a survey of 2,000 British Facebook users by OnePoll, 36% reported telling fewer lies since they joined the site, and 53% said they think lies are easier to discover because of the personal information offered by Facebook.

Summary execution: that's basically the punishment meted out by consumers for brands which annoy them on social media, according to a new study performed for Pitney Bowes Software by Vanson Bourne, a U.K.-based marketing and research outfit, titled "Social media: contrasting the marketing and consumer perspectives."

Four men from Southern California have been arrested on charges of plotting terror attacks, with the crucial tip-off coming from -- wait for it -- their own social media profiles.

LinkedIn has some competition in the social media recruitment category, with Facebook's launch of its new "Social Jobs" app, which helps Facebook users find employment and allows employers comb the ranks of the social network for talent. The product of a partnership between Facebook, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Direct Employers Association, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Social Jobs aggregates job listings and other relevant information from a number of online recruitment platforms, including Work4 Labs, Jobvite, BranchOut, Monster, and US Jobs.

The days when the horrors of war could be filtered by newspaper editors and TV news producers are over, thanks in large part to social media, which allows users to post and share raw, uncensored photos and video footage of violent conflict, including the terrible consequences for civilians. This development has opened up a whole new arena in the battle to shape public opinion, leading to tit-for-tat social media exchanges between combatants.

When it comes to finding gift ideas, social media now rivals word-of-mouth and store advertising as a source of inspiration for shoppers, according to a new survey of 1,035 U.S. adults from Research Now's consumer panel conducted by ConsumerSearch.com, part of The About Group, from October 8-12.