SoundCloud has gathered together some of its most intriguing users for a video project in which they share their perspectives and memories to explore why sound is so important to our lives. Among the participants are Moby, Imogen Heap and Martyn Ware.

A new study looked at social games and found that while Asia is the largest social games market, non-Facebook platforms in Western markets will be responsible for nearly one-quarter of worldwide social gaming revenue within the next three years.

The National Football League bans players, coaches and other team personnel from using social media during a several hour window around every game, but that doesn’t protect the players from themselves the rest of the time. Two that come to mind are Rashard Mendenhall (Pittsburgh Steelers) sharing, um, his unique perspective on Osama bin Laden, and Larry Johnson (ex-Kansas City Chiefs) insulting the coach, gay people and a fan.

Flowd, the social network designed for music lovers, today officially launched in the U.S. and announced a deal with Digital Mind State’s CEO Mike Johns to help drive its success. Flowd’s free service enables musicians to engage directly with their fans by building a customized community on its mobile platform.

Kid-safe social media site Everloop has gone live with EverText, a SMS feature that is always on and protected by moderators in real time. It works across all mobile carriers and does cost anything beside whatever the mobile data plan charges. The company said EverText is the first service of its kind.

PepsiCo has named the ten European startups that will make up the PepsiCo10, the company’s program for discovering and supporting emerging technology companies. These startups will work on pilot marketing initiatives with some of PepsiCo's leading brands.

A new Potomac-based start-up aims to provide Internet users with an entertaining forum for ranking just about anything, from "top NFL quarterbacks" to "best iPhone apps." Rankpad, launched by DC-area entrepreneur Andre Averbug, is currently in open beta testing, with plans to roll out new features over the next few months that will focus on deeper integration with social networks and expanding its revenue model.

Parents who are concerned about their children’s online privacy should know that only Sulake's Habbo Hotel and Xbox Live meet the privacy standards established by the European Commission for the Digital Agenda. A new report by the commission found they were the only social networking sites that protected minors’ personal profiles by default, ensuring this information was accessible only to each member’s approved list of contacts.

Whooznxt has expanded the opportunities it offers member bands, thanks to a partnership with Virgin Mobile USA. Big Bang Presented by Whooznxt is an original weekly series hosted on Virgin Mobile's Facebook lifestyle portal, Virgin Mobile Live, that showcases a chosen band with exclusive content. The bands will also be featured on Virgin Mobile Live 2.0, Virgin Mobile's streaming music station available on all Android devices.