Facebook’s Murphy Leaves Company – Mike Murphy, Facebook’s vice president of global sales and a long-time employee, is leaving the company to focus on his family at the end of this quarter. There are no immediate plans to replace him. [Image via Facebook]

More on Facebook Phone – We wrote about the purported “Facebook phone” last month, but more details were reported this week. The projects may be aimed entirely at creating a social mobile phone platform, along the lines of previous reports, and is being run by vice president of  growth Chamath Palihapitiya in a separate building near the company’s Palo Alto, Calif. headquarters.

Facebook Plans New Groups Icons – Facebook designer Soleio Cuervo responded to a query on Quora about Groups icons and said in reference to broken heart icons, “We’ll be offering more groups icons after my return from vacation. Some of the recycled icons that were previously scrapped will replace their former selves in meaning and representation.”

Facebook, Bit.ly ‘Frenemies’ – TechCrunch reports that Facebook seems to be both working against bit.ly — creating its own fb.me URL shortener — and with bit.ly by shortening some links with the service. More at the link.

Facebook Lobbies Against Privacy Laws – Facebook spent more than $6,600 lobbying California officials against passing the Social Networking Privacy Act. We wrote about Facebook hiring its first California lobbyist earlier this year. More information here.

Facebook Apps Influential – A recent study found that Facebook applications are either extremely influential or not influential at all — there’s no in-between. More at the link.

Facebook Releases ‘It Gets Better’ Video – Facebook employees participated in a video for the It Gets Better Project, which aims to encourage gay adolescents not to harm themselves over bullying.

Breakup Data on Facebook – Apparently, people like to break up before Spring Break, on Mondays, at the beginning of the summer and before Christmas, this according to a recent analysis of when people announce breakups on Facebook.

Facebook Nook Integration – Facebook has collaborated with Barnes & Noble to release a NookColor Facebook integration allowing users to recommend books to friends, share a reading status, share quotes and lend an e-book to a friend.

Facebook Joins Alliance to Save Energy – Facebook joined the Alliance to Save Energy and plans to have a new Green Page to promote energy efficiency.

Facebook Sues Over Faceporn Name – Facebook is suing Faceporn.com, an adult social networking site, over its name alleging violation of copyright.

WPP, Buddy Media Announce Partnership – Communication services group WPP and Buddy Media announced a partnership to help global brands scale their Facebook marketing efforts. WPP will invest $5 million into Buddy Media, more at the link.

Singer Launches Places Marketing – British singer Cheryl Cole has launched a new billboard campaign urging fans to see her on Facebook and Places. She’s promoting a new album and tour and fans on Facebook have the chance to win tickets.

BitDefender Protects Facebook Users – BitDefender is a Facebook app designed to protect Facebook users from spam, privacy invasion and other threats. It checks your information for “fishy” items and offers you the option of deleting them.