There were unknown lifeforms, #moonfruit, Firefox 3.5, and the sale of The Pirate Bay making social media news this week. From the shocking $7.8 million sale of the web’s pirating hub to the release of Firefox 3.5 and its killer features, social media events kept rolling in. There were also some insightful and useful resources that got people’s attention this week. If you’re interested in gorgeous Twitter visualizations or how to get retweeted on Twitter, social media provided the answer. Here are this week’s top 11 social media stories: 1. 6 Gorgeous Twitter Visualizations – Stan Schroeder takes a close look at six of the most beautiful Twitter visualization apps around. 2. Sneak Peek: What’s On Tap for Firefox in 2010 – While Firefox 3.5 may have come out this week, Mozilla’s already hard at work on version 3.6. Josh Catone explores what’s coming for the popular browser. 3. The Pirate Bay Sold For $7.8 Million – Global Gaming Factory X AB shocked the technology world this week when it announced its acquisition of The Pirate Bay. Why did they sell? And what’s next for the controversial peer-to-peer website? 4. Unknown Lifeform in North Carolina Sewer: A Monstrous YouTube Hit – It’s the breakout YouTube hit of the week, and nobody’s quite sure what it is. What is this thing that has piqued the web’s curiosity? 5. Twitter

Promotion Done Right: #moonfruit – There’s a new hashtag-based marketing campaign making buzz on Twitter. Learn how they got right what #squarespace got wrong. 6. HOW TO: Get Retweeted on Twitter – Pete Cashmore explores some interesting data on retweets, and how that can apply to getting retweeted more often. 7. Top 5 Killer Features in Firefox 3.5 – Firefox 3.5 is a huge upgrade over its predecessor. Find out what sets this new version apart as a browser. 8. Facebook Page Frenzy Due Today: URLs Available to All – While Facebook opened up vanity URLs for profiles earlier this month, it left smaller Facebook fan pages to wait until this week to claim their usernames. Pete Cashmore explains the details. 9. Twitter Increases API Limit – Twitter has upped the API call limit by 50% this week, making your favorite Twitter apps a lot more useful. Learn why this is important. 10. 10 Ways to Find People on Twitter – Josh Catone discusses 10 different ways to find new friends and people on Twitter. 11. Michael Jackson Died in 2007, Says Google – With the world turning to Google and the web for information on Michael Jackson, some information was a bit…off. Image courtesy of iStockphoto , AndrewJohnson Tags: social media

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11 Essential Social Media Stories of the Week