Social Media Round-up of the Week – 15 July

Welcome back to our weekly instalment of what’s hot in the world of social media. In case you missed what happened over the past week, here’s a run-down of our top six:

1. Twitter has changed the restrictions on sending direct messages (DMs) to other profiles. Formerly, you wouldn’t be able to ‘DM’ someone unless you were friends, but now Twitter has removed this to enable anyone with a profile to DM anyone else. Whilst we can think of a few positive reasons why the restriction has been lifted, many may not be so keen.

2. Microsoft yesterday accidentally revealed a test version of a social search service it has codenamed Tulalip, Winrumours reports. The site appeared at socl.com for a short time, a domain owned by Microsoft. The project is still meant to be under wraps and it commits many grammar and design sins (so we’ve been told), but it’s interesting to see that the company is trying its hand at social endeavors.

3. It was revealed this week that activity on Foursquare would affect Klout scores, but people are still a little confused as to how activity on the location-based platform would feed into the Klout algorithm. “We are still figuring this out,” Klout CEO Joe Fernandez told Mashable. “Obviously things like tips that turn into to-dos are interesting as is the ripple effect of a checkin through a network. In the next few weeks we’ll be testing and perfecting the algorithm.”

4.  Google+ could be on the brink of reaching 10 million users after just two weeks, according to one researcher. Google has made several failed attempts to launch a social networking service in the past, but the initial response to Google+ suggests it will fare much better. Paul Allen, the founder of Ancestry.com, has estimated the number of users on the service and predicts that Google+ is about to welcome its 10-millionth member, if it hasn’t already.

5. The British Medical Association recently issued a new guidance advising doctors not to accept friend requests from former and current patients because of how doctors’ personal information could be perceived and shared. “The accessibility of content on social media however raises the possibility that patients may have unrestricted access to their doctor’s personal information and this can cause problems within the doctor-patient relationship,” doctors wrote in the BMA guidance.

6. Our infographic of the week is all about fcommerce (above).