Last week we reported on new data showing consumers are increasingly demanding that websites allow them to use their Facebook/Twitter/Google+ social login details and how it is likely to be a major impact in influencing social transactions going forward. Here’s more evidence that handing that the social log-in could very well translate to increased sales, or, at least fewer “shopping cart disruptions.”

Fitness label Reebok and social media measurement service PeerIndex have joined forces to reward Facebook and Twitter’s most influential sporty types.

As predicted, Pinterest has proved itself a formidable presence in the f-commerce arena following figures showing it’s the fastest growing social media traffic source for e-commerce websites in terms of revenue.

We found this morning this brilliant presentation given by Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger loaded up to Scribd. It takes you into the wildly successful launch and rise of Facebook’s newest prized toy, photo-sharing app Instagram. As all start-up stories, it was a bumpy ride.

A few weeks ago we wrote about the “mission-critical” importance of Tweeting business leaders. Why is that? Put simply, CEOs who communicate freely using social media are held in higher regard – not just by employees, but by customers too, study after study shows. An organization where the boss Tweets is an organization where internal communications is more dynamic and transparent. That then has an impact on external comms, or the brand image portrayed to the public.

Viadeo, the other social network for business professionals, announced this morning it has landed $32 million in funding from a host of blue-chip investors as it looks to expand beyond its stronghold markets of France and China. It currently has 45 million users and is looking to grow share in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and beyond.

If you’re like most of us, you cannot keep track of the varied username/password protocols required to log back into a particular website. Is it the four-digit password or the eight-, you wonder? Is it the alpha-numeric version? Are symbols required? Right. I forget. Send me the change password details to my in-box and I’ll start over. And so the cycle repeats itself again and again. It’s not surprising then that a new piece of research tells us consumers want to do away with this game of guess-the-password in favor of social logins.

As data geeks here at SMI, we’re into the big numbers and the big picture. That’s why we send out each week to our subscribers a super concise bulletin of the big data points that are driving the sector. We informally call it “Social Media: By the Numbers.” With these data points, we tell you the big research insights, innovations and strategy points that explain what’s working and what’s not working. Today, I’m introducing a longer version that I will will occasionally reprise.

Last week we got the latest IAB figures showing a booming digital ad sector, helped by the continued rise of social + mobile + video. Today, a new global digital ad report is out, showing social search is one of the fastest growing segments of online search, which itself is still far and away the largest revenue-generator in digital advertising.

Social networking has been accused of many things, but degrading humanity? It seems that Skype has some strong feelings on the matter.