Social Networks

Facebook is already the world's most popular social network. And new research from social media analyst Vincenzo Cosenza suggests it's only getting more popular. Every six months Cosenza puts out a World Map of Social Networks. The map is a deep sea of Facebook blue. Facebook is the ruling social network in 127 of the 137 countries that Cosenza analyzes. Facebook, in its relentless march to global domination, added Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia and Vietnam since June, according to date that Cosenza crunched.

Mobile advertising may still be in its infancy, but analysts like what they are seeing from Facebook Inc. so far. Facebook stock jumped $1.38, or 5.2%, to $28 on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its price target to $35, citing “strong advertising trends.” Analysts predicted that advertising on mobile devices would surpass spending on the desktop in 2014. Some 600 million Facebook users connect with the social network from their mobile devices. “We are incrementally positive on Facebook shares into 2013 as we believe it remains very early in the trajectory of Facebook's mobile advertising,” analyst Doug Anmuth wrote in a research note.

The gig: As senior director of Facebook Inc.'s growth, engagement and mobile team, Naomi Gleit helps grow the social network's 1-billion-plus user base. Facebook employee No. 29: Few people outside Facebook have heard of Gleit, but she's the second-longest-serving Facebook employee, after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Gleit, 29, talked her way into a job at Facebook on July 18, 2005 - her birthday. She was Facebook's 29th employee, coming on board shortly after the company hit 1 million users and before anyone had an inkling of the colossus it would become.

A social network has rolled out a powerful new feature that lets you scroll through memory lane. And it's not Facebook. Path is the social network started by former Facebook executive Dave Morin that was built from the ground up for mobile devices. This week it rolled out a major update to its more than 5 million users: a simple way to sort through thousands of "moments" they have shared with their closest friends. Path is far more intimate than Facebook, it's like a mobile diary or journal carried in your pocket that lets you share with up to 150 friends.

Instagram may be close to having advertisements, and those ads might use your photos. The Facebook-owned social network announced upcoming changes to its terms of service, and the most notable one says Instagram can let companies pay to use your photos as well as your name and other information for ads that would be displayed within Instagram. "To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your user name, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata)

Want to send a saucy photo? Facebook is looking at a way to do it discreetly. The 1-billion-user social network is reportedly set to release a new app before Jan. 1 that will be similar to Snapchat, an app often used to send "sexts," or sexually explicit content, according to All Things D , citing unnamed sources. QUIZ: How much do you know about Facebook? Snapchat, which has grown in popularity in recent months, allows users to send pictures and videos that disappear after a set time period.

Before the coffee. After remembering why today matters. The Skinny: Sure was foggy this morning. That and sad music at Starbucks put me in a blue mood. Friday's headlines include ... wait for it ... the weekend box office preview!!! Also, teens are not the only ones who get in trouble with Facebook. Netflix is in hot water with the SEC over one of its posts. Finally, a preview of midseason TV. Daily Dose: While some thought Fox Sports would have a new Dodgers TV deal worth billions locked up by now, the talks continue and now rival Time Warner Cable is entering the fray.

Social networks continued their domination of our lives in 2012 with U.S. users logging more than 121 billion minutes across numerous social networks in just July of this year. Put another way, that's more than 2 billion hours of viewing vacation photos and reading about a friend's new puppy. That's up 36% from 88.4 billion minutes spent on social media in July 2011, according to Nielsen's recently released 2012 social media report. Facebook alone accounts for a major portion of that time.

Scientists have uncovered a key property of comatose brains that differentiates them from normal brains and may explain what goes wrong during severe brain injury. The report , published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, utilizes graph theory, which uses data to determine how well connected each part of a network is to every other part of the network. The approach has been used to study social networks like Facebook and circuit engineering for electronics.

SAN FRANCISCO - Pinterest is the one looking to get pinned this holiday season. The popular social networking site that lets you collect and share images from around the Web by pinning them to virtual boards is looking to broaden its appeal with consumers and brands with a major marketing push. On Tuesday, Pinterest launched "30 Days of Pinspiration," holiday themed boards filled with an assortment of tips from an eclectic mix of celebrities, businesses and others. Among the contributors are chef Paula Deen and Jordan Ferney, creator of the party and lifestyle blog Oh Happy Day, as well as the NBA, the U.S. Marine Corps and Starbucks.