E-CONSULTANCY.COM — As a big fan of location-based applications (I'm currently 'checking in' at various locations on five different apps...!) I have of course been watching the launch and subsequent spread of Facebook Places with great interest. Now that the first batch of dust has had a chance to settle, I wanted to look in a bit more detail at some of the hurdles 'Places' may face in the coming months, if past experience is to be believed. Applications like FourSquare, Gowalla, Yelp and SCVNGR have all gone through (or are going through) teething troubles and often come out the other side much stronger. Most commentators have speculated that Facebook's massive userbase alone will be enough for them to trounce all other applications with very little effort...

THE SOCIAL TIMES — OpinionLab’s [+] feedback symbol has been adopted by hundreds of brands and implemented on more than 6,500 websites worldwide. Millions of consumers each month provide their opinions using the company’s opt-in, open-ended feedback system originally patented for websites. In today’s announcement of Social Media Monitor, OpinionLab states that the new product enables companies to capture and analyze consumers’ social media conversations using the same methodology as its opt-in web and mobile solutions...

VENTUREBEAT — Social app platform maker Sometrics is announcing today that ts virtual currency can be exchanged into Facebook’s own new virtual currency, Facebook Credits. The deal is a coup for the startup because it means that the rewards that its customers can earn on its Game Coins web site will be more liquid, allowing users to earn Facebook Credits (which can’t be spent in scores of Facebook apps) through acts such as browsing the web, shopping online, completing game missions, or writing game reviews...

INSIDE FACEBOOK — Social application analytics platform provider Kontagent today launches Social Analytics Suite v2.0. The update includes new features such as social event tracking for monitoring user actions, and dynamic funnels for visualizing drop-offs in installations, monetization, sharing, and more. Social application developers can utilize Kontagent’s tools to analyze all their users, not just a sample of them, allowing for accurate A/B testing at a lower cost than traditional analytics platforms...

TECHCRUNCH — Dick Costolo, former COO and now #newtwitterceo, told The Telegraph in an interview that he and the rest of the company’s shareholders are shocked – shocked! – that anyone even dares suggest they just might be open to selling Twitter. Ok, those aren’t his exact words, but he denies claims that his promotion means that the company is being prepped for a sale, and that both he and co-founder Evan Williams have gone that road before (having both sold a company to Google) and are not looking to repeat that particular trick...