Talkin’ about my generation: recent university grads and other newcomers to the workforce would consider work hour flexibility and Internet access liberty more important than a fat pay check, a new study shows. The question is: will jobs recruiters re-write employment contracts to reflect this new trend?

With the launch of a new social media marketing campaign this week, Cadbury’s continues to show off its social media prowess. It gives us the perfect opportunity to see if Cadbury’s social skills are rubbing off on its new owners, Kraft Foods.

It’s getting such that Facebook users need never buy a meal again. The latest fast-food brand to dangle a free lunch to fulsome Facebook fans is Burger King way up in Norway. For every ten “Like’s” you pepper on the Burger King Norge Facebook page, you get a free Hot Salsa burger. (No, we don’t want to know what they put in the Norwegian salsa).

Google and Microsoft are making moves to reorganize the way we use email. It comes at a stage when we’re using social networks more and more in favor of the old email inbox. Why then all the fuss and investment? And, what does it mean for us?

So says a new report out this morning by the IAB UK, which calculates Britons spend more time on blogs and social networks each day than they do checking email, texting mates, playing games or surfing for porn, combined.

Still think Foursquare is just a silly fad for wired extroverts with too much time on their hands? Starbucks is one marketer who sees it differently, eyeing serious sales potential from the location-based social gaming app, announcing this week it will create a U.S.-wide loyalty program for the mayors of Foursquare.

You (well, some of you) asked for it, PepsiCo is now responding. After a 12-year absence, PepsiCo is reintroducing Mountain Dew to Britain in the coming weeks, backed by a major social media launch campaign. But even before the first green bottles appear on shelves, industry observers are wondering: if a core of die-hard fans can bring back a forgotten brand like Mountain Dew, what else might the people want next?

Social media was once seen as the death knell of traditional media. But, as Betty White’s triumphant performance on Saturday Night Live earlier this month showed, it just might save the tired old telly, giving the mainstream public something to talk about.

And, by the same measure, could McDonald’s Facebook fan page only be worth $260,000, or about 1/100th the value of Starbuck’s? That’s the lopsided assessment of Atlanta-based Vitrue, a social media marketing agency that has developed a whizzy calculator that spits out a value for a brand’s social media presence.

New insights into the utilization of social media by Fortune 100 companies reveals Twitter is still the hottest platform, but only US and Asian companies embrace the full scope of social media brand marketing, a new study compiled by Flowtown shows.