The economic outlook may look bleak, but it’s not likely to dent spending on social media marketing. A new study of small- and mid-sized businesses shows a healthy optimism for a strong return on social media investment, and, accordingly, an increased investment in this area. Their big focus? Yep, Twitter and Facebook.

Yes, it’s still a week to go before the Christmas lights are “officially” illuminated along Regent Street, but we want to get a jump on the season anyhow with our first (of many) reviews of the latest social shopping apps to hit the market in recent weeks. Here, we review Starbucks, Amazon, Walmart, and Debenhams, grading each.

Our friends at Do the Green Thing today have launched a noble new idea: a drive to use social media (and all media, really) to get us to donate a bit of clothing that once may have meant a lot to us, but now is sitting in the back of a drawer, the colors fading along with the memories of why you bought it.

We ask this question after Twitter revealed to the New York Times its latest growth figures in a profile this weekend of co-founder Evan Williams. Twitter has added an impressive 30 million users in the last two months, putting it at 175 million, far ahead of Facebook at the same point in its life cycle.

Earlier this week, a Google-commissioned study informed us Britain has become a “nation of digital shopkeepers,” with the digital economy contributing more to GDP than construction, education and transport. How could this have happened so quickly? The rise of social commerce may just be the answer.

Universal McCann is back with the latest installment of its Wave reports, a look at how social media is transforming our online habits and how companies are responding. The assessment is that while the phenomenal global growth of social media “stands up to the hype,” most brands and organizations are “still not social.”

The NBA’s New York Knicks have taken to social media with the ferocity of a full-court press to generate some excitement for a team that failed to land the much-needed big scorer in the off-season. The secret weapon then: turning to you, the fan.

Procter & Gamble next week will launch a social media campaign. This one, it hopes, will make a big difference. The effort aims to martial the power of bloggers and social network users everywhere to raise awareness for the need to bring clean water to children in need. The do-gooder campaign hopes to distribute roughly 200,000 liters of water with the help of your clicks.

Okay, this factoid is a few days old, but it’s still worth noting. ComScore released last week its latest online audience reach numbers for social networks in the U.S. The winner? Yep. Facebook. By a mile.

Yes, web users do view online video ads in their entirety, says a new study from a TV network that is trying to make money from online video ads. Well, most of the viewers do. Okay, the CW Television Network study may sound self-serving, but there are some interesting findingsthat point to what we already know: viewing online video (and the accompanying ads) is becoming a growth industry.