Sometimes it's not such a great idea to let everyone in your social network know where you are, or where you aren't.

According to an article on WMUR.com, criminals in Nashua, N.H., this summer targeted homes to be robbed based at least in part on the location status posted by the home owners on social networking sites like Facebook.

Market research firm eMarketer estimates that companies will spend $1.68 billion on social networking advertising this year. That's a 20 percent increase over social media ad spending in 2009, and it will account for 6.7 percent of all online ad spending in the U.S. this year, according to a new eMarketer report.

eMarketer attributes this spending to the gradual recovery of the U.S. economy, plus the recent obsession with reaching consumers through social networking. In December of last year the company forecasted $1.3 billion in social networking ad spending. Strong spending during the first half of the year, particularly on ads shown on Facebook, has caused the company to revamp its predictions.

While I was goofing-off on the East Coast  these past few weeks, Google apparently initiated a significant social gaming strategy by pumping a large investment into Zynga.  I completely agree with the comments in the linked TechCrunch article regarding possible investment incentives, including, "Zynga allows them to rebuild the massive social graph, currently controlled by Facebook." Google's initiative continued the week before last, when it bought Slide.  The acquisition spree was capped by Monday's rumor about the acquisition of Seattle-native Jambool.  (Yes, Jambool is now considered to be a San Francisco-headquartered startup, but I'm claiming its Amazon roots as part of my bent toward Seattle's strength as a software startup juggernaut.)

Just in case you needed further evidence that the U.S. is increasingly a nation of social networkers, Nielsen issued a study Monday showing social media usage soaring -- and continuing to replace e-mail and instant messaging.

Americans spent 22.7 percent of their online hours in June using social media sites, says Nielsen. That's a 43 percent increase from June 2009, when 15.8 percent of Web time was devoted to social media. Meanwhile, e-mail usage fell from 11.5 percent to 8.3 percent, and instant messaging dropped from 4.7 percent to 4 percent.

Facebook may have 500 million users, but that doesn't mean that the service is well liked.

According to the new American Customer Satisfaction Index, which measured social media sites for the first time this year, Facebook scored 64 points on a 100 point scale. To put that in a little perspective, the airline industry garnered 66 points.

Nearly a quarter of office employees with access to the Internet are using social networking sites at work, according to a new survey by security vendor Trend Micro.

Of the 1,600 employees surveyed in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan, 24 percent of them access social media sites while in the workplace, up from 19 percent in 2008. Trend Micro, which surveyed an equal number of staffers from each country, did not conduct a similar survey in 2009.