Nearly 40% of Americans spend more time socializing via the Internet than in real life. Almost a quarter say they have missed out on important moments because they were, ironically, distracted by trying to share those moments on social networks. Nearly 20% say they actually prefer to communicate electronically via social network or text message than talk over the phone or face-to-face.

This is all according to a recent study commissioned by the social discovery site Badoo. More than 6,000 people in the U.S., UK and Germany were queried about their social lives online and off.

While 39% of Americans say they spend more time socializing online than off, the numbers are slightly lower in the UK and Germany — 36% and 35%, respectively.

But Americans aren’t totally down on social networks. 84% say social networks are useful for staying in touch with far away friends, three-quarters say they’re great for reconnecting with old acquaintances and 83% say they help those who are shy and lonely meet new people.

Other data from the survey can be interpreted as either positive or negative. One in three Americans say they are more likely to meet someone new online than in the real world, while 24% say they accept friend requests from people they don’t actually care about or even like.

Social network users also appear to be becoming more cautious about what they are willing to put online. Nearly half of the Badoo study’s respondents say they have be more careful about what they share.

How do social networks enhance your social life? Do they also detract from it? Is the Connected Generation actually the Alienated Generation because of social networks? Let us know in the comments.

Twitter has confirmed the removal of its follow graph data from Instagram, disabling the “Find Twitter Friends” feature in the photo app. Users can still find people from their phone’s contact list and Facebook friends list.

“We understand that there’s great value associated with Twitter’s follow graph data, and we can confirm that it is no longer available within Instagram,” Twitter spokeswoman Carolyn Penner told Mashable.

On Thursday, Instagram users began noticing a pop-up message (see above), which says the app is unable to find users’ Twitter contacts because of API tweaks on Twitter’s end. However, the feature appears to still work for some users.

This is Twitter‘s second high-profile parting of the ways within a month. In late June, Twitter cut ties with LinkedIn, ending a partnership that synced updates from one site to the other

The separations from Instagram and LinkedIn are in line with recent statements from Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, who says he wants companies to build into Twitter instead of building off of it.

Should Twitter continue part ways with other apps? Is it a smart move? Let us know below.

Shocked reactions flew through the digital world yesterday when it was announced that Facebook had purchased Instagram for $1 Billion.  The mobile-app darling has grown exponentially over the past few years.  It now has over 30 million users and was named “App of the Year” by Apple in 2011.  The purchase was great for both Facebook and the small, revenue-lacking Instagram.  So why are people so shocked & upset about the purchase?  Well let’s lay out a few of the perspectives involved:

Why this is good for Facebook:

-  Instagram is much better for mobile photo sharing.  While the Facebook app requires users to move through 6 screens before they can take a picture, Instagram only has one.  About a year ago, Business Insider actually listed Instagram as Facebook’s Biggest Threat.

-  Facebook had been working on a new photo-sharing app.  Unfortunately, the mobile Facebook app is notoriously slow already.  Change wasn’t happening anytime soon.

-  Acquiring Instagram will help them solve this major issue of their past.  They just need to tread carefully so they don’t isolate Instagram’s current super-fans.

Why this is good for Instagram:

-  Although the small (6-12 person) company has been extremely successful, it hasn’t discovered any way to make money.  The $1 Billion purchase and the employees’ new status as Facebook employees will ensure the founders (& the company) have a future.

Why this is “bad” for Instagram enthusiasts:

-  Instagram has a distinctly hipster vibe to it.  You know, that’s where all those emotion-heavy, hyper-processed photos on your Facebook wall come from.  So in many people’s minds, Instagram sold their souls to Facebook for some fast cash.

-  Many are worried Instagram will be absorbed into the Facebook machine, rather than remaining an independent app.

-  Others are concerned that Facebook will use Instagram’s technology in a non-mobile app.  Much of the appeal of Instagram is that it is mobile-only– people take one photograph, edit it, and share it.  This contrasts sharply with how people use Facebook albums.

Despite many people’s worried reactions to the acquisition, Mark Zuckerberg has assured the masses that he is determined to grow Instagram independently.  Facebook is going to work with the Instagram team to make photo sharing more user-friendly, rather than just absorbing the successful company into the Facebook machine.

How do you feel about Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram?

With large national brands already taking advantage of YouTube as an advertising platform, small local businesses have struggled to use the immensely popular social site.  Those small businesses who have tried, have done so by creating low-budget videos to promote their products and services.  Thanks to YouTube’s newest initiative, they will now be able to better target their audience with these videos.

YouTube is positioning their new service as a low-cost alternative to the reach advertising might incur during the Super Bowl (a bit far fetched, we know).  The site does boast impressive numbers though.  According to a post from Google’s blog, “With a global audience of 800 million monthly visitors to YouTube, every day can feel like you’re advertising in the Super Bowl, and one video can launch a business.”  However, YouTube estimates that 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, which is a daunting number for a small business trying to reach its audience.  YouTube hopes to help these small businesses break through the forest of videos featuring cats and laughing babies.

The key addition to YouTube’s advertising service is a new Google AdWords feature for videos.  This allows small businesses to bid on certain keywords that relate to their spots.  When users search anything including one of those key words, that company’s video will pop up in a specified ad category.  Advertisers will only pay for the videos that are actually watched, although it’s unclear how long the videos need to be viewed.

YouTube is using numerous tactics to promote this new feature.  To encourage trial of the new service, they are offering $50 million of free advertising to 500,000 companies and new users will receive $75 towards their advertising.  YouTube is also using hand-picking certain small businesses to act as ambassadors for the new service.

Interested in advertising your company on YouTube?  Contact us to get started.