New data released earlier today by web analytics firm Compete.com reveals that there has been a major shift at the top of the web charts: Facebook is now larger than Yahoo in the U.S.

Yahoo for years was the world’s most popular website — its ubiquitous portal has dominated the web since the 90s. Two years ago however, Google (Google) vaulted past Yahoo and became the Internet’s most popular destination. Last month, it became Facebook’s (Facebook) turn to knock Yahoo down another peg.

In December 2009, Yahoo garnered 133.45 million visitors in the U.S. Facebook wasn’t far behind with 132.13 million uniques. In the first month of 2010 though, there was a role reversal: Facebook’s traffic rose to 133.62 million visitors, while Yahoo shrunk down to 132.00 million.

via Facebook Overtakes Yahoo: Now the Second Most Visited Site in U.S..

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T.G.I. Fridays is taking an interesting approach to attracting Facebook fans to its brand, launching an ad campaign with an original character named Woody. Woody is an “average guy” looking to pick up 500,000 fans before the end of September, and if he’s successful, those fans will receive a free Jack Daniels burger.

via TGI Fridays’ “Fan Woody” Campaign Offers Free Burgers if Page Hits a Half Million Fans.

Social media allows us to discover, connect, and engage with new people of interest. While most people are open to new connections and receiving messages from people they don’t know, there is a fine line between reaching out and “spamming.” The challenge is to make a connection clearly and effectively without wasting people’s time.

Many of us are on both sides of this relationship — sometimes making the connection, sometimes receiving the invitation. To help navigate these waters a little better, I’ve outlined seven key lessons for improving your social networking skills.

via 7 Lessons for Better Networking with Social Media.

Facebook has more than 350 million users. It also features more than 1.4 million business pages. And, according to Facebook, about 10-million people become “fans” of these business pages each day!

So you’ve heard that EVERYONE was doing it…and you set up your own Facebook page for your business or organization. Now what? Here are 26 things you should be doing with your page:

via 26 Things You Should Be Doing On Your Facebook Business Page.

Many companies have Twitter accounts that spit out periodic updates on new products or services, and a few even have a Facebook page. But there’s a big difference between having a social networking account that puts out spam to a followers/friends list that consists of employees and the owners’ immediate family, to being part of an actual online community.

via Five Tips for Promoting Your SMB with Twitter and Facebook .