Some of the best learning happens when you read stories about real people and real companies. Read them for ideas, for lessons, and inspiration. This week’s stories and strategies from real life are about Facebook, Victoria’s Secret, Twitter, Willing, and Marks & Spencer.

From Mike Isaac: Facebook Defies Social Media Gravity With User and Profit Growth

“The social network on Wednesday reached the latest milestones in its quest to dominate the world, topping 1.79 billion monthly visitors as of the end of September, up 16 percent from a year ago. Facebook also added a record number of new daily users and said for the first time that more than one billion people regularly used its network exclusively on their mobile device every month. And those numbers do not even include Facebook’s other properties, such as the photo-sharing service Instagram and the messaging service WhatsApp.”

From Andrew Mantis: Looking at the Secrets of Victoria’s Secret Shoppers

“A few weeks ago, we published a post on our blog at CheckoutTracking.com about the loyalty of Victoria’s Secret shoppers. Understandably, it generated a fair amount of attention…and an even greater amount of envy.”

From Wharton: Can Twitter Find Its True Calling?

“Social media giant Twitter is having a bittersweet moment, experiencing increasing popularity among users and financial woes at the same time. Along with growth in revenues, the firm has had to cut jobs and products to please Wall Street expectations of more profitability. Also worrying are forecasts of a deceleration in its user base, and concerns over trolling and harassment in tweets. These issues have reportedly turned off potential suitors like Google, Walt Disney & Co. and Salesforce.com in recent months.”

From Eilene Zimmerman: Start-Ups for the End of Life

“A crop of tech start-ups is looking to capture a slice of the funeral sector and end-of-life care. Many of them are founded by millennials, who have grown up online.”

From Adam Gale: Is M&S to blame for its own decline?

“Despite the success of food, every single boss Marks and Spencer has had since its decline began in the late 90s – Luc Vandevelde, Roger Holmes, Stuart Rose, Marc Bolland and now Steve Rowe – has put great effort into stopping the clothing rot, without meaningful success.”