Twitter is on the prowl. Though it made its last acquisition more than a year ago, company founder Biz Stone said on Tuesday that it's looking to add to the stable. There aren't any specific targets yet -- at least none revealed -- and Twitter is keeping its options open. The likely pool of potential acquisitions consists of third-party Twitter application developers, which is largely responsible for the micro-blogging service's growth in popularity.

Stone, one of Twitter's founders, said at a Tel Aviv news conference, "As our attention is grabbed by some of these developers, we will take a hard look at them." This refers to companies that develop applications for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Research in Motion's (RIMM) Blackberry. It also refers to developers for the Web and desktop, such as HootSuite and TweetDeck.

Once upon a time, Mac users could brag they were much safer from malicious electronic attacks. After all, in the days before Google (GOOG), when Microsoft (MSFT) was the only uber-player in town, Windows was the perpetual malware target. Phishers, however, aren't discriminating; they're just looking for an account to plunge. So, both Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft users are threatened. Virus writers do tend to focus on the Windows operating system, which owns 90% of the OS market, but phishers are platform independent.

Phishing involves attempts to get a user to reveal information about their accounts. Once the soon-to-be victim clicks that link or fills out a form, the "transaction" is complete -- no operating system interaction necessary. As a result, there really isn't any advantage to using a Mac over a PC.

An unemployment rate of 10.2% means that serious jobseekers are using every tool they can find. So, it's not at all shocking that social networking tools top the list, with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter leading the charge. Openings are being tweeted, hints of a new position are being monitored and hot candidates are being hit up directly, even if they aren't saying they're on the prowl for a new gig. Social media is a tool to use in a job hunt but not necessarily the only one, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Instead, it makes sense to balance a search with many tools.

John Challenger, CEO, says, "The job search has changed radically over the last two decades with the advent of electronic mail, the internet, social networking, smart phones, etc. However, it is important to remember that all of these technologies simply enhance the job search; they will never replace the face-to-face connections that are critical to a successful search." But, he continues that "we feel that these new networking tools are essential and now advise all of the job seekers going through our program to open LinkedIn accounts and to consider other services such as Facebook and Twitter.

Imagine taking the personal connections and interactions that occur every day on the likes of Facebook and Twitter... and bringing them to bear on an education. To a large extent, this hasn't been done yet, but the potential is profound. In a new report by the Center for Community Survey for Student Engagement, two-year programs aren't taking advantage of the tools at their disposal -- plenty of growth is still possible. Kay McClenney, director of the CCSSE, says, "Colleges are not taking advantage of that particular set of tools for making connections with students to the extent that they could."

The recession has led everyone with a budget to question ever line. From households to businesses to state and federal governments, nothing is sacred. Finding new ways to get the same result without spending the same amount mean not having to make sacrifices. NASA has been under considerable financial pressure, as many question the value of sinking cash into space travel. So, it has to get creative in justifying its existence ... and in generating excitement about the agency and what it does.

When the space shuttle launches on Monday, 200 thumbs will be at the ready. NASA has deputized 100 of its top fans on Twitter to come to the launch and tweet the experience. These fans are estimated to have more than 150,000 followers, all with the potential to retweet the messages they see. Every click of an iPhone or Blackberry will give NASA more exposure, building the excitement it needs to keep the operation afloat. So, whether you realize it or not, the launch is being brought to you by Twitter, Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM), even if only implicitly.

Morale has plunged among military personnel in Afghanistan as a result of record violence in the war, according to the U.S. Army. A battlefield survey found that the situation is particularly problematic for soldiers on their third and fourth combat tours, and junior enlisted soldiers are most likely to experience marital problems because of deployment. Though it's not a complete solution, the study did find that limited doses of technology – either through video games or internet access – can help.

The study, obtained by NBC News, revealed that more than 20% of soldiers are experiencing combat stress, and half of them are having difficulties getting professional help. Combat Stress units in Afghanistan, the report says, are "undermanned," and this type of unit has no presence in the southern part of Afghanistan, where most of the combat is taking place.

Michael Moe knows how to make headlines: Talk about Twitter and predictably people will bite (I'm proof of that). He led the team at NeXt Up Research that calculated the value of the micro blogging service and arrived at $526 million to $674 million -- half what Twitter is generally believed to be worth.

Really?

The team estimates that Twitter will generate revenues of $114 million to $134 million in 2013. In 2014, Twitter is expected to post revenues of $126 million to $148 million. This is far more conservative than the valuation implied by the company's most recent round of venture capital investment, which puts the company's worth at more than $1 billion.

Company attitudes toward social media sites vary. Some swing the doors wide open, allowing employees to tend to their Facebook farms and update Twitter statuses throughout the day. Others lock 'em down, keeping non-business site access to a minimum.

A recent study found that, in the United States, 77% of employees with Facebook accounts check in with the community from the office. And, the amount of time they're spending in this part of the online world is growing. In the United Kingdom, another study found that 57% log in regularly from work, costing their employers 40 minutes a day.

Philip Wicks, a consultant at Morse PLC, a technology research firm in London, "It isn't just something you can do for half an hour during a lunch break but all through the day and because of that, it has a huge impact because people aren't necessarily concentrating on what they should be doing during the day." He estimates that this translates to lost productivity of $2.25 billion a year.

It seems like the obvious move would be to block the sites, but William Beers of PricewaterhouseCoopers disagrees. "Instead of trying to shut it down, I think we should try to embrace these technologies, put in a nice policy that governs it and explain to users the risks related to it, provide some training and then see what business benefits we can have from it," he said.

Your e-mail account is a goldmine. Technology companies push hard to keep your data secure, but there are plenty of scumbags out there who always seem to find a new way to gain an edge over the guys in white hats. Phishers, in particular, are eager to find new ways to profit from your identity and information, and they're getting some new tricks.

Phishing scam activity was quiet at the beginning of this year, according to a report in USA Today, but these attacks surged 200% from May through September, says the X-Force team at IBM (NYSE: IBM). Webmail, social media and gaming accounts are their primary targets. E-mail access, in particular, is highly sought after, since they can be use to push out spam ... while bypassing filters.

These "virgin" e-mail accounts command top dollar: a digital criminal can pick up as much as $2 for a clean account from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Live, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Gmail, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) YahooMail or AOL (NYSE: TWX). This is more than twice the amount typically paid for a stolen credit card account, according to Fred Rica, principal in the security practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Many webmail users actually do half the criminals' job for them, with 33% using just one password online and 48% using only a handful.

Have you ever looked at your Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) Flickr account and thought, "Why am I doing this? I can just throw my pics up on Facebook"? If this has crossed your mind, you're not alone. In fact, many photo-sharing sites – Snapfish (NYSE: HPQ), Photobucket, Picasa (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Shutterfly, as well as Flickr – are asking the same questions. With the development and enhancement of photo management capabilities in major social networking websites, niche players need to find new ways to stay relevant.

The situation is still far from grim. Fed by traffic from their behemoth owners, the photo-sharing sites remain substantial forces, and they are currently home to more than 20 billion pictures. There's still plenty of interest in these environments ... which has been bolstered by specific features that make the likes of Flickr attractive to both professional photographers and amateur shooters. The ability to order prints and personalize portfolios, for example, still provides an edge over sites like Facebook and MySpace (NYSE: NEWS).

Nonetheless, the threats from the social networking space are quite real.

Mark to market is R.I.P. But that's good news. Sentiment is building in the punditosphere that unemployment has not yet peaked and might not peak until 2010. TechCrunch reports that not a single venture-backed company IPOd in first quarter and M&A transactions were down by half compared to a year ago. Twitter is the next MySpace, according to this post. Too many impostors, follower counting and other sad parallels.

Marketing is always difficult. Often, you need to experiment with a variety of approaches. And, of course, you need to measure things.

Obvious, huh?

Yet, when it comes to using social media like Twitter, Facebook and so on, it seems that many small businesses forgot to measure things.

Then again, if you read much of the how-to's on the topic, it does seem that social media is an elixir; that is, there is some type of magic that will create more business.

But, when I talk to business owners about the success of their social media, things get a bit fuzzy. Often, there are few tangible examples.

Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of social media – as well as many fundings. However, it hasn't been easy for social media platforms to standout.

But, as for Wetpaint, things have been moving nicely. In fact, the company has announced a $25 million venture round (in all, the company has raised $40 million). The investors include: DAG Ventures, Accel Partners, Trinity Ventures, and Frazier Technology Ventures.

Essentially, Wetpaint allows you to create your own social media site – with pictures, blogs, videos and so on. So far, there are more than one million sites – with about a half a billion words (keep in mind that the system is extremely easy to use).

More importantly, Wetpaint has had lots of success monetizing the traffic, which is no easy feat when dealing with user-generated content. Although, Wetpaint's pages are optimized for major search engines, allowing for cost-effective traffic. And now with much more money in the bank, there is likely to be a further push to get users to create many more sites.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

No doubt, there are many shareholder activists. But with Eric Jackson -- who manages Ironfire Capital LLC -- he is a bit different. That is, he uses social media, like Google Inc (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s YouTube, to help with his campaigns against companies like Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT).

Well, I recently had a chance to interview him:

Why did you setup your fund? What's your take on shareholder activism?

After last June's Yahoo! annual meeting, when they changed CEOs following a high "against" vote by shareholders towards the current board, several friends and supporters encouraged me to think about setting up a fund. Frankly, they and I were a little surprised what I had been able to accomplish owning only 96 shares of the company. Many people had told me it was a waste of time and I had no chance of gaining support for an alternate "Plan B" for Yahoo! But we showed that the quality of ideas matter more to other shareholders than the quantity of shares owned. My hard costs were negligible for the campaign: a $30 webcam and a couple of JetBlue tickets to California. Several people said: "You need to do this on a larger scale." Ironfire Capital will allow me to do that.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) doesn't look like it is slowing down on the deal front for AOL. Just when everyone is wondering if AOL will be sold, AOL has announced that it is paying out $850 million to acquire the social networking site Bebo, "a global social media network which combines community, self-expression and entertainment to enable its users to consume, create, discover and share content."

Bebo is also one of the leading social networks in the U.K. and is supposed to ranked number three in the U.S. Its users view an average of 78 pages per day.

Bebo has a total membership of more than 40 million worldwide. The press release notes that together with the AIM and ICQ network, AOL will have 80 million unique users in the world of social media.

For $850 million in cash as the purchase price, AOL probably just added a serious site that it can convert rapidly into advertising profits with Platform-A (Advertising.com and more). Its giant ad platform that still ranks number one on many ad metrics.

So while $850 sounds like a lot, it may well prove to be a bargain ultimately for AOL.