Facebook is getting a bit of a face-lift, the social network announced Thursday. The big news this time around involves the “news feed” system of profile updates. Instead of having to wait for an “activity stream” to update the profile list, users will now be able to see both site and status changes as they happen. Users will also be able to update the streams to suit their personal tastes. The new update system is the latest in a series of changes designed to give the company an edge in a rather competitive marketplace. The new changes are expected to go live March 11th.

In other social networking news, MySpace fans now have a credit card to call their own. The specially branded Visa card is the latest in a line of incentive-based card, designed to give users “points” for every dollar they spend. Said points could then be redeemed for a variety of rewards, from movie tickets to music downloads. Not everyone is thrilled with the move, however. Many within the financial sector question the logic of marketing a high-APR credit card to college students, many of whom are already dealing with student loans and other collegiate-related debt. Those in the tech industry also have their doubts, saying that the network officials should be focusing more on containing the runaway freight train that is Facebook than giving a twenty year old a line of credit that he or she may not need. The new MySpace Visa is available now.

Elsewhere, many Twitter users believe that they have found the culprits behind the service’s latest crash … and it’s not who you think it is. As far as these users are concerned, the latest round of problems can be blamed upon two distinct entities — respected journalist and talk show host Barbara Walters and Skittles manufacturer M&M/Mars. The story goes like this: Last Monday, Ms. Walters mentioned Twitter by name on her popular daytime program The View. At the same time, M&M/Mars decided that it would be a good idea to replace Skittles web page with a link to a Twitter Search results page for the keyword “Skittles.” According to the conspiracy theorists, the usage spike caused by fan of both The View and the fruit-flavored candy essentially overloaded the servers, causing them to literally cave under the pressure. Unfortunately, the real-life answer is a bit more mundane. In an email sent to tech site ArsTechnica, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says the outage was nothing more than a routine server error. “Casual on-air mentions do not affect the site nearly as much as [major global events],” he writes. “[The two incidents had] nothing to do with the site degradation experienced earlier this week.”

Next: It seems as if the so-called “green” movement is trying to get a top-level domain of their very own. Spearheaded by Al Gore and a company called “Dot Eco LLC,” the proposed “.eco” TLD would be billed as the premiere domain for all environmentalists, global warming activists, and everyone else who claims to be Mother Nature’s biggest fan. All proceeds generated from the new TLD would go to a bevy of environmentally-friendly and socially conscious charities. Still, not everyone is on board with the idea of creating the world’s greenest suffix. “I’m [writing off] this .eco top level domain right now,” writes TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington. “Not because it’s global warming/eco related… I just don’t think the world needs another top level domain.”

And finally: Every great scribe has a bout with writer’s block every now and again. Each one of us has had his or her own way of dealing with it, usually with mixed results. (My method entails pacing around nervously, scaring the cats.) If you’re in the mood for a modern, distinctly “web 2.0″ solution to your problem, we here at the Free Line suggest giving Plinky a once over. Plinky is a new social network that gives you a list of helpful little “conversation starters,” all designed to get your mind up and running on all cylinders. After you finally have your stroke of genius, you can post it directly on their site, sharing your new idea with the world. The service is also compatible with all of the major blogging platforms, making it simple to get that extra dose of inspiration without ever breaking your concentration. Easy to use and extremely helpful, Plinky is an excellent way to get past what ails you. Your readers — and, if you’re like me, your cats — will thank you.