The biggest news in social media last week was that Facebook had its IPO on Friday, opening at $42.05 (and closing at $38.23) If there were any last skeptics of Facebook’s importance remaining, this milestone verifies social media’s status as a valuable industry that’s all grown up and here to stay. The upcoming weeks will hold a close eye to the company with its biggest challenge: delivering for Wall Street by convincing Madison Avenue. GM pulling Facebook advertising dollars isn’t the biggest help.

The short: In non-IPO news, Facebook announced a new product called the App Center. It’s an iTunes-like marketplace for discovering, reviewing, and using Facebook apps. In the past, a user's first experience with a new Facebook app most often involved landing on an authorization window asking for permission to access the user's personal Facebook data. Now, users can learn more before committing to the app by exploring a detailed app description page, user reviews, and screenshots.

Why it matters: Not only does the App Center legitimize Facebook’s App Platform and put it into the same category as the iOS App Store and Android Market, but the App Center could provide Facebook with a new revenue stream from paid apps, subscriptions, and in-app purchases. For brands and developers with popular apps like Spotify, Netflix, and the Washington Post reader, the App Center will further boost the already rampant growth of the apps by making them even easier to discover and use. However, it will likely make it harder for fledging companies and new apps to get noticed amongst the top performers.

The short: Viddy, the social video app dubbed the “Instagram for video,” surpassed 26 million users this month.This easy-to-use app -- simply record a 15-second video clip, apply a filter, add music and share -- was created last April, just in time to meet the boom in consumer demand for mobile photo and video apps.

Why it matters: The quick rise of Viddy signifies the meteoric growth mobile photo and video has experienced this past year. A Flurry study shows that in 2011, consumer time spent on mobile video apps grew 141%. Thus far in 2012, while online video consumption has dropped 10%, mobile app video consumption has increased another 52%. It’s too soon to predict how mobile video apps will affect traffic to online video sites long-term, but Viddy and its rival Socialcam won’t be going away any time soon. It would be wise for brands to pay attention to the trend and understand that consumers are itching to put video consumption and creation in their own hands.

The short: Last week, Twitter announced that users can now receive a weekly email that summarizes the most popular stories and tweets from the people they follow. The opt-in digest of highlights is likely powered by Summify, a start-up acquired at the beginning of the year that aggregates the best stuff from an individual’s social feeds.

Why it matters: What arrives in a user’s inbox is more or less an email version of Twitter’s Discover feature, which the social network revamped this month to cull and deliver more personalized, ”magical” content from a user’s network. While a week is a brief lifetime when it comes to 140-character updates, this effectively puts the content that friends and others have vetted and vouched for--an idea similar to Facebook’s ad unit Sponsored Stories--in one place to easily consume in one sitting. Keeping with this trend (Buzzfeed’s weekly email digests launched a short while ago), Pinterest has also begun to send weekly emails recapping the most popular boards and pins. Digital digests offer brands a chance to showcase themselves and their stories in front of more people, only underscoring the need to produce entertaining, engaging content.

The short: With Red Bull on board as an exclusive launch partner, Klout unveiled a new platform that allows brands to reward and engage their advocates. Brand Squads, currently in beta, highlight a brand’s top influencers and conversations. Fans, in turn, can claim special perks based on their ranking as an influencer.

Why it matters: With Brand Squads, Klout has simplified the way brands can identify and incentivize fans for talking about them in their social channels. In turn, fans become representatives of brands on an ongoing basis with the lure of competition, merchandise and social media fame. And while this shift represents an empowerment of the influencer, it also gives brands better access to those who are most willing to shape and share their content and experiences.

The short: Dutch airline KLM has launched Meet & Seat, an opt-in program that lets passengers select seatmates before takeoff based on Linkedin and Facebook information. Since launching in February, over 1,100 profiles have been shared.

Why it matters: Similar to Ticketmaster's seating app that launched last summer, KLM's social media integration is part of the larger trend of brands leveraging social media to directly impact the consumer experience. These companies understand that social networks can serve as more than pathways for conversation with fans: they can be used to shape consumer experience in real, tangible and measurable ways.

The short: The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is a proposed piece of legislation that, if passed, would allow for greater sharing of information between public and private sectors. Lawmakers and Internet privacy advocates say the bill violates free speech and gives the government too much authority in using private data. However, supporters such as Facebook and Microsoft cite its necessity in preventing cyber security threats.

Why it matters: The legislation indicates that any information held by an Internet company that is considered a potential threat towards national security can be turned over to a wide range of government agencies. While the law’s intentions are good, the legislation is likely to cause many consumers to continue to lose faith in the integrity of most brands. With big name companies like Facebook and Google under fire for issues related to people’s personal data, CISPA has the potential further strain the consumer-brand trust as users’ information becomes less and less protected by the companies they have grown to love.

The short: Google Drive, which officially launched last Tuesday, is intended to help the search giant compete with cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Box. Replacing Google Docs, the new service is highly integrated with other products such as Google+ and is intended to act as a simple way to combine the many functions and services offered by the company.

Why it matters: While this product is obviously intended to compete with other cloud storage services, many believe that it will act as an even stronger competitor to Microsoft Office and similar products, as Drive will combine the functionality of productivity applications with the data and access associated with Google. Critics have already come out against the service, though, citing issues related to Google’s dreaded privacy policy. While cloud storage may be convenient for the regular consumer, brands needs to proceed with caution before allowing their confidential information to be stored in places where safety and privacy can no longer be guaranteed.

The short: Last Friday, a few Barbarians attended the annual PSFK NY Conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. We had the privilege of listening to an inspiring lineup of creative talents so we thought we would share a few of our favorite ideas and discoveries.

A Digital Witness to Life: Jonathan Harris’ past projects, like We Feel Fine, have contemplated the complex relationship between people and technology. His latest project, the multimedia storytelling platform Cowbird, aims to shift user behavior away from compression and self-promotion - two trends Harris pinpoints as rampant online - and toward “deepening” and self-reflection. With the ability to tell one’s story through any combo of video, audio, photos and text, Cowbird encourages deeper, more “heartfelt” self-expression as opposed to what he calls the more reductive experiences of Facebook, Twitter, et al. Lofty goals, to be sure, but we see it as a refreshing approach that celebrates both the wonderfully personal stories being shared and the enriching act (and art) of creating over curating.

Tweaking the Retail Formula: Rachel Shechtman’s STORY is a physical location that has the POV of a magazine, changes every few weeks like a gallery, and sells things like a store. An exploration of what a retail experience can be, STORY provides a framework for an evolving conversation between consumers and brands. Even its logo, expertly designed by Stefan Sagmeister, changes with each incarnation. As we’ve seen digital circumvent the traditional retail experience, it’s interesting to see how a physical retail location can do the same.

The short: Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will acquire the hugely popular photo-sharing application Instagram.

Why it matters: With a network of over 32 million users, Instagram has quickly become one of the most widely-used photo sharing apps worldwide, and it is by far the most popular product or company that Facebook has ever acquired. Just how popular is the app? After it launched its version for the Android operating system last week, it received over 1 million downloads within the first first 24 hours. In Zuckerberg’s announcement, he assured fans that the Instagram features they love will not go away. Rather, Facebook will work with the 8-person Instagram staff to build an optimal Web experience for photo-sharing with friends, family and those with shared interests. While we are waiting for more details on what the app integration will look like, we predict that Instagram could become an essential feature of the site and hold special potential for brands looking to connect with fans on a personal level.

The short: Back in September when Timeline launched for Facebook user accounts, the question on everyone’s mind was whether brand pages would get their own version of Timeline. As of March 30, all brands have been transitioned to the new format, but one question remains: Is Timeline good for a brand’s Facebook Page? Although some initial studies claimed that Timeline was bolstering engagement, a recent independent study by Edge Rank Checker says that engagement remains unchanged.

Why it matters: Fan engagement is the number one reason that any brand has a Facebook Page. Although the new Timeline format has been optimized to tell a richer story about a brand’s history, most users are finding fewer reasons to leave the news feed on their home page and are making fewer visits to brand pages as a whole. The importance of compelling, on-brand content is greater than ever, as only the most engaging content will ever make it to the news feed. Fortunately, the latest suite of marketing tools on Facebook provides ways to buy better visibility and news feed placement, making combined earned and owned media campaigns an effective way to reach and engage with a Facebook audience.