Regular social media use can stave off depression among older users. According to a study by  by Shelia Cotton, a sociologist at the University of Alabama, Internet and social media users over the age of 50 may reduce their chances of suffering from depression by one-third compared to those who do not participate in social media. But the participants who used Twitter and Facebook were one third less likely to develop systems of depression than those who don’t use social media. The findings? MORE >>

The “Social Customer Service Race” Study. Brands must use social customer relations management systems to find and prioritize social media comments and help requests in real time. The questions or comments used for the study were meant to elicit a response, based on the social media management best practices of several industry experts. The Looking at the results reveals some major pointers for social CRM: Listen for your brand’s name – with or without the @ symbol. Positive (“thank you!”). ”). Negative. MORE >>

The #RLTM Scoreboard:  Social Networking Stats for the Week. Please email marissa@modernmediapartners.com if you have additional updates, or a social network that you feel should be on the list. Twitter users are 33X more active than Google+ users, according to a new study by social media research firm Umpf. Each site had to have the social sharing buttons for all four platforms. Check out the infographic: Infographic and research by Umpf social media agency. Facebook: 955 million active users. via  CNET. Twitter: over 500 million users. MORE >>

The #RLTM Scoreboard:  Social Networking Stats for the Week. Please email marissa@modernmediapartners.com if you have additional updates, or a social network that you feel should be on the list. Social Media Statistics #RLTM scoreboard Instagram mobile photo-sharing photo-sharing app social networking statisticsFacebook: 955 million active users. via  CNET. Twitter: over 500 million users. via  Twopcharts. Qzone: 576 million active users. via  TechCrunch. Sina Weibo: over 300 million users. via  Bloomberg Businessweek. Renren: over 170 million users. MORE >>

But Google+, a newcomer to the survey, tied for the highest score in the Social Media category. This is a record low for the Social Media category, and places Facebook among the five lowest-scoring companies out of the total 230 measured by the ACSI. On the other end of the spectrum, Google+ won a score of 78, tying with Wikipedia for first place in the Social Media category. Scores for other social media companies include: YouTube (73), Pinterest (69), LinkedIn (63) and Twitter.com (64). from last year.  Click here for the press release. MORE >>