Although it’s only Wednesday, this week has already seen several exciting developments in the world of social media. The Web is evolving into a place we can share information instantaneously, just as we do face-to-face in the offline world.

We’ll start with a rumor, which came from the Boy Genius Report blog and cited widely in outlets like TechCrunch and BusinessWeek, that iTunes 9 will reflect a new social media strategy for Apple.  The company has stayed largely away from integrating social tools into their products and services until now. Although details are thin, the new version of Apple’s music service is said to include the ability for users to broadcast songs to their friends on social networks.  Since consumers are already figuring out ways to share their music online through hosting services like RapidShare and personalized radio stations like Blip.fm, it makes sense for Apple to get into the game and make it an easier process for their customers. We’ll withhold any judgments until the company announces hard news.  (more…)