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This past week certainly flew by at the speed of Google Fiber. If you didn’t get the chance to take in all the how-tos, app reviews, and business tips found here on Mashable, rest assured, we’ve gathered them into another convenient resource buffet, fully stocked for some all-you-can-read weekend enjoyment.

This week’s edition includes some easy ways to make a difference with social media, a look at how video conferencing technology is improving education, some new social strategies for businesses of any size, and much more.

Social Media

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  • Dear Foursquare: This Is Not the Right Time to Sell The location-based network’s extraordinary growth and buzz have caught the eye of Internet heavyweights, notably Yahoo. But if the Foursquare team aims to be a worldwide game-changer like Facebook and Twitter before them, it may be wise to forego the big pay day and keep on truckin’.

  • 9 Ways to Do Good With 5 Minutes or $25 Social media makes it easier than ever to make a difference. Whether you can donate a little bit of time, or a little bit of money, check out these easy ways to contribute on the web or on your phone.

  • How Social Media Can Effect Real Social and Governmental Change Transparency, open APIs, and free-flowing information are just a few of the ways societies and governments can be improved. This post discusses some important social media campaigns that have made a difference.

  • 4 Tips for Tapping Into Twitter Conversations Twitter is so much more than just sending updates and links into the void — it’s the world’s real-time conversation. If you want to take part, heed the advice in this post.
  • Exclusive: Tour the “If I Can Dream” Command Center [VIDEO] The interesting new reality/online video hybrid show “If I Can Dream” hit the web on March 2nd, and its impressive production and technical values have turned more than a few heads. This exclusive tour of the show’s HQ sheds some insight on the unique experiment.

  • 5 More Ways to Go Green for Earth Day Earth Day may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you’re off the environmental awareness hook. Explore these social strategies for going green any time of year.

  • How Social Media Helped Travelers During the Iceland Volcano Eruption The Icelandic volcano eruption cost millions in airline revenue and left thousands stranded, but it may have opened new windows of communication. See how travelers and airlines took advantage of social channels to relay vital information that call centers and websites could not.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

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  1. HOW TO: Give Your iPhone a Spring Clean With so many tempting apps available for download, it’s easy for your iPhone to get cluttered. Well spring is here, and it’s time to organize your mobile life. Check these tips on streamlining your beloved handheld.

  2. 5 Ways Classrooms Can Use Video Conferencing Web-based video chat has allowed students to connect with a world of experts and curricula that were previously unavailable. Take a look at these five examples of high-tech education in action.

  3. 10 Free iPhone Apps to Help You Go Green for Earth Day Environmentalism doesn’t stop at your desktop. Staying green on the go can be a little bit easier with these 10 resourceful iPhone apps.

  4. 10 Excellent Examples of Recycled Gadgetry If you’re all about gadget-themed decor and apparel (and who isn’t really?), you won’t want to miss these awesome products, built from the circuits and wires of yesterday’s tech.

  5. For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business

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For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
Source: Mashable
 
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Big changes in the social media landscape this week mean there’s a lot to discuss. These posts highlight all the latest and greatest tools, tips, trends, and strategies for navigating the ever-changing social waters.Included in this week’s edition is some cautionary advice about Facebookand dating, some great mobile app lists for spring, and analysis of Twitter’s brand new advertising model.

So kick back, relax, and dedicate some weekend catch-up time to these 20 resources that may have passed you by.

Social Media

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  • 5 Ways Facebook Changed Dating (For the Worse) Facebook is a fabulous way to stay connected, share, and build a business. But when it comes to dating, the social network just makes things complicated. Here are some reasons why it may be best not to entangle romance in your social media lifestyle.

  • HOW TO: Create Free Music Playlists Online The only thing better than listening to music online is sharing it. We’ve highlighted some of the best services that let you gather and spread your musical tastes on the web, all for free.

  • 10 Fantastic Photoshop Tutorials on YouTube If you’ve always wanted to get a handle on Photoshop, even just the basics, video demonstrations are an excellent resource. There are so many good (and not so good) screencasts available on YouTube (). We’ve highlighted some of the best at every skill level.

  • How Journalists are Using Social Media for Real Results There’s no question that social media has dramatically changed the way we report and consume the news. From exclusive Twitpics to breaking stories, we spoke with professional journalists about how they’re using the social web to hone their craft.

  • 5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Profile Pic Your face is your brand on the social web. As in person, if you don’t make a good first impression, you may be forfeiting a lasting connection. We checked in with some socially-savvy designers for some easy ways to land a killer social media mug.

  • 12 Chatroulette Clones You Should Try  The viral success of Chatroulette has sparked numerous clones and parodies hoping to snag onto a coat tail or two. Here are 12 that we found particularly noteworthy.

  • Why Banning Social Media Often Backfires Whether in schools, the workplace, or by governmental decree, the effects of banning social media are usually the same — people work extra hard to get around it, and often succeed. This post discusses why resources are better spent fostering constructive social network use.

  • HOW TO: Prevent and Report Online Stalking When so much of our day-to-day lives are lived online, the threat of online stalking is an important concern. Here are some easy ways to prevent it from happening, and to report it if you feel you may be a victim.

  • 5 Ways to Reduce Social Media Distractions and Be More Productive Even the casual social media user lives in a world of constant inbox and feed bombardment. Here are some tips on avoiding the “reactionary” workflow, and taking charge of your social productivity.

  • HOW TO: Maximize Your Content’s Reach on the Social Web For online publishers, it’s no longer a one-destination world. To compete on the social web, content producers need to target their audience’s streams across a variety of networks. This post outlines some important strategies.

  • HOW TO: Boost Your SEO with a YouTube Channel While many still focus on the content of their websites, YouTube is an excellent way to push your brand to the top of search results. Check out these tips for maximizing video SEO and driving traffic from your YouTube channel.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

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  • 10 Amazing Musical Instrument iPhone Apps The iPhone has some truly outstanding musical instrument offerings, many of which rival their physical counterparts. Here are 10 that really shine.

  • 10 Great iPhone Apps for Growing a Garden Spring is finally here, and that means planting season. The iPhone, equipped with the right apps of course, can be a handy reference tool for green thumbs. Check out these 10 apps that can aid your ailing zucchini and plump your tomatoes.

  • 5 Amazing Android Apps for Baseball Fans Baseball season is upon us. If you’re a stats nut or a die-hard fan, queue up America’s pastime on your Android device with these five apps, and never miss a pitch.

  • 8 of the Best Chrome Extensions for Web Designers Web designers use an arsenal of tools to calculate the perfect color and get their graphics in gear. When those tools are built right into the browser, all the better. We tapped the pros to find out which Chrome extensions are their favorites.

  • 4 Key Web Developer Community Resources From the Internet’s earliest days, programmers would congregate in chat rooms and on forums to ask questions, swap code, and brag about their latest software masterpieces. The modern social web has only made these communities stronger. Here are some of the hot spots that any serious programmer should have on his or her radar.

  • Six Twitter App Models That Stand a Chance Twitter’s first-ever developer conference, Chirp, saw a flurry of ideas change hands as leading app developers discussed the future of interfacing with the social network. Here are six compelling app models that could change the way we use Twitter in the near future.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business

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For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
 
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(CNN) -- Google plunged into the world of social networking on Tuesday, melding pieces of Facebook and Twitter into a new feature, Google Buzz.

Buzz, which will work through the popular Gmail service, will allow users to post status updates, photos and links to members of their network -- as well as pull in their activity on other sites like Twitter, Flickr and Picasa.

Google spokesman Bradley Horowitz said the service, which was rolling out to some Gmail users Tuesday afternoon and should be available to all in the next couple of days, aims to weed out what he called the clutter of other networking sites.

With networking sites, "there's obviously value there," he said. "It's a phenomenon that's real, but it's increasingly becoming harder and harder to make sense and find the signal in the noise."

By letting users post photos, links and updates openly, the tool would mimic Twitter's micro-blogging format. But users also will be able to make their content available to "friends only," more closely following the Facebook model.

At an event at the company's Mountainview, California, headquarters, Google also seemed poised to take a poke at the AOL Instant Messenger service, saying Buzz will be offered to companies as a tool for interoffice communication.

"It will change the way businesses communicate around the world," Horowitz said.

Despite the inevitable comparisons, Google spokesmen said they didn't set out to tread on anyone else's turf.

"We try not to pay too much attention to competitors," Gmail product manager Todd Jackson said. "We try to listen to users."

Horowitz said Google Buzz will automatically make "friends" out of the people a user e-mails or chats with the most on Gmail.

Comments on posts will appear in real time. And comments by other users will be weighted, similar to how Google's search engine weighs results, to "collapse bad buzz and recommend the good buzz," Jackson said.

The hands-down leader in the search engine world, Google has been branching out on projects that include its Nexus One smartphone, the company's first foray into hardware marketing.

Late last month, Google announced that people could tweak their accounts to make results related to friends, co-workers and other members of their social networks appear above all other results.

The Social Search feature was introduced to a limited number of Google users last year and was made available to everyone in beta status on January 28.

The change came with a hint of more things to come.

"This is just a first step in our ongoing effort to ensure that Google Web search is always as social as the Web itself," the company said in an instructional video posted to its official blog.

Google Buzz probably won't be able to bring in status updates and other materials from Facebook for the same reason that Social Search doesn't.

Because most Facebook users set their information to be viewed only by friends, Google's search engine can't collect that information in the same way it can from Twitter and, obviously, Google-owned sites like YouTube.

Buzz also will have a mobile component, operating on most major wireless operating systems with features that include voice-recognition posting and a GPS-enabled ability to attach the user's location to posts.

The Web-based mobile application, which can be used by iPhones despite not going through Apple's online store, can also be set to pick up posts to Buzz being made near the user's location.

Changes to the tool could be coming quickly, too. Google officials say they're already studying possible expansions. They include allowing Buzz updates by phone, letting users post to their Twitter account through the tool and linking Buzz with the still-emerging Google Curve system.

"We're just getting started," Horowitz said. "We're not launching this today because we think we're done. We don't think that's how a product like this is built."