Palo Alto, Calif. - Online social network Facebook on Thursday introduced a number of new privacy protections intended to safeguard younger users from sexual predators and cyberbullies, the Associated Press reported.

McLean, Va. - Mixx, an online social news start-up that allows users to submit news stories, vote on their favorites and view the most popular on the site's front page, said on Wednesday that it has forged a key partnership with CNN. Under the deal, users of CNN.com will be able to add CNN headlines and articles to Mixx's platform through "add to" Mixx buttons on CNN.com story pages.

Hollywood, Calif. - Buzznet, a music-focused social media community, on Tuesday announced that it has acquired yet another music site, this time purchasing alternative music Web zine Absolute Punk for an undisclosed sum. The deal follows Hollywood-based Buzznet's recent acquisitions of music blogs Stereogum and Idolator, and a $25 million round of financing earlier this year from investors that included Universal Music Group.

Dallas - GodTube, a Christian video-sharing site and online social network, has raised $30 million in new financing from GLG Partners, at a valuation of around $150 million, PaidContent.org reported.

McLean, Va. - USAToday.com, the web site of USA Today, on Thursday launched an online flight community called "Today in the Sky."

Mountain View, Calif. - Confirming earlier reports, Web-based messaging and chat service Meebo announced on Thursday that it has raised $25 million in new financing, led by JAFCO Ventures.

Beijing - Japan's Softbank has led a $430 million investment that will give the group a 35% stake in Oak Pacific Interactive (OPI), which manages Xiaonei.com, China's largest social networking site.

Los Angeles - Mister Wong, a Germany-based social bookmarks site, has acquired Lifestream.fm, a service that allows users to aggregate RSS feeds from various social media sites, Mashable.com reports.

San Jose, Calif. - CellSpin on Tuesday introduced its mobile application that allows users to post audio, video, photos and text on social media sites including Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Blogger, Picasa, Flickr and even live eBay auctions. The San Jose, Calif.-based company, which debuted its technology at DEMO Conference in January, said CellSpin currently works on over 300 mobile phone models, and supports Symbian, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry operating systems.

Berkeley, Calif. - MOG, a music discovery service with a desktop music player, has raised $2.8 million in new financing, from Universal Music Investments, Sony BMG Music Investments and The Angels Forum 74, VentureBeat reported.

Twitter, the micro-blogging platform, has been in the news quite a bit lately (in particular for VC funding and rescuing a US blogger). This has helped drive US Internet visits up further to the increasingly popular service. Year on year, Internet visits to Twitter.com are up 8 fold. In the past three months, visits have more than doubled and traffic continues to climb, up 60% in the past month.

Los Angeles - Online music community Buzznet, which recently acquired music blogs Stereogum and Idolator, has announced an online promotion for the release of Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records' artists Weezer's new single, "Pork & Beans." The "online food fight" will allow Buzznet users to toss/post pork and beans on one another's profile pages. The band and Buzznet will also make a donation to Conscious Alliance, a non-profit that distributes food and resources to U.S. communities most in need, at the end of the promotion.

London - U.K. media retail chain HMV has launched a beta test of a new social networking site, which allow users to import music and film files and create their own libraries, then be matched up with other members with similar tastes, The Telegraph reported. The "Get Closer" site, which will be funded with advertising and also feature links to the HMV online store, is currently in beta testing with 1,000 users and is scheduled to launch on Sept. 1.

Montreal - Akoha, the developer of a new social game with elements of social entrepreneurship, multiplayer and reality-based games, announced on Monday that it has raised $1.9 million in new financing from angel investors.

Austin, Texas - Pluck, a provider of social media tools, said on Friday that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has hired it to provide social media capabilities across CBC digital properties. Austin-based Pluck, which also counts Fox News, Discovery, Gannett and The Washington Post as clients, will provide voting contests, interactive show commentary, forums, photo-sharing and other features for the CBC.

Digg Dubb: Groove Is In The Heart from Trammell on Vimeo.
A new viral lip dub video has appeared (embedded above). This time courtesy of the staff at Digg. I would say it's a worthy follow-up to the video done at the offices at College Humor and Connected Ventures (see below). Revision3 has also joined the party with a lip bud video of their own (embedded at the bottom, gotta love INXS). Think about it, these videos are not just viral branding for the companies but also smart recruitment tools...

Los Angeles - College Tonight, an online social network that promotes off-line social interactivity among college students, said on Thursday that it has signed Lauren Conrad, of MTV reality series "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills," as its national spokesperson. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. "Lauren has one of the most mature brands in young Hollywood and is a positive role model for young adults," said College Tonight CEO Zachary R. Suchin. "Her affinity for fashion and everything socially fresh is fluidly synergistic with College Tonight's efforts."