Released in February 2011, this guide for researchers introduces some basics about how social media may be of use and highlights some basic social media tools.
Social media trends for 2011 from HBR. Worth a look, even if you don't agree with many of them (like me). I do think these trends have a distorted bias towards business and that misses the point really. There is also a growing push-back against Facebook that is ignored by this analysis from the US.
Not all of those mentioned on this list are that "new". Those I think that would be most useful to researchers:
For metrics/statistics - Argyle, TwentyFeet.com & PostRank
For content management - Trunk.ly & Storify
& for Twitter hashtag tracking - HashTracking
Tumblr is a growing social media platform that is a bit of a mix between Twitter, a blog and something like Flickr (as it is normally associated with images or short videos). It is suited to multiple platforms and cloud-based. It is a platform that may suit some researchers. Another multi-platform blog along similar lines is Posterous.
Presentation about the costs of higher education (albeit US costs) and some alternative ways we can assist including more open access, social media and social networks.