As the year comes to an end, many networks, sites, critics and journalists write up the 'year in review.' Some tell the story with statistics, others with images and others with lists. Here is a compilation of links to those from various reputable publications and sites listing "The Best of 2010" in categories such as social media trends, tweets and statuses, world news stories, the year in pictures, art, advertising, business, fashion, gadgets, movies, sports, tv, and books. All in one convenient place.
Based on the aggregation of billions of search queries people typed into Google this year, the video below, Zeitgeist, captures the spirit of 2010 by showing us the top events and moments in 2010 from around the globe through search, images, and video.
Fastest Falling 1. swine flu 2. wamu 3. new moon 4. mininova 5. susan boyle 6. slumdog millionaire 7. circuit city 8. myspace layouts 9. michael jackson 10. national city bank
Fastest Rising in Entertainment 1. justin bieber 2. shakira 3. eminem 4. netflix 5. youtube videos 6. lady gaga 7. kesha 8. nicki minaj 9. grooveshark 10. transformers 3
Fastest Rising in Sports 1. mundial 2010 2. olympics 3. espn3 4. fifa 11 5. randy moss 6. miami heat 7. mourinho 8. wayne rooney 9. cricket live score 10. david villa
Fastest Rising in Consumer Electronics 1. ipad 2. iphone 4 3. nokia 5530 4. htc evo 4g 5. nokia n900 6. blackberry apps 7. duracell mygrid 8. 트위터 9. otterbox 10. pdanet
Fastest Rising in Food & Drink 1. masterchef 2. 食べログ 3. cupcakes 4. jimmy johns 5. как жрать суши 6. dominos pizza menu 7. tudo gostoso receitas 8. guacamole recipe 9. applebees menu 10. rachel ray
Fastest Rising Maps Searches 1. anhembi parque 2. wm gucken 3. world cup 4. bundeskanzleramt 5. rio branco 6. mt everest 7. kew gardens 8. tour eiffel 9. oxford street 10. nürburgring
Fastest Rising People 1. justin bieber 2. katy perry 3. selena gomez 4. kim kardashian 5. eminem 6. lady gaga 7. miley cyrus 8. taylor lautner 9. megan fox 10. robert pattinson
In the News 1. haiti 2. besiktas 3. chile 4. earthquake 5. lady gaga 6. iphone 4 7. jörg kachelmann 8. menowin fröhlich 9. mobile technology 10. oil spill
Fastest Rising Translations 1. vancouver 2010 2. apprendimento automatico 3. ресторан нью-йорк 4. машинное обучение 5. beijing apartments 6. comercio electrónico 7. st. petersburg restaurants 8. منتزه يلوستون الوطني 9. energia solare 10. dubai tours
Fastest Rising Health Queries 1. hcg diet 2. dr oz 3. aspergers 4. mcdonalds nutrition 5. vitamin d deficiency 6. appendicitis symptoms 7. cholera 8. nfp 9. vacina h1n1 10. whooping cough
Fastest Rising Humanitarian Aid 1. donate to haiti 2. donate to pakistan 3. text to donate 4. doctors without borders 5. download to donate 6. red cross canada 7. blood donation restrictions 8. donate blood australia 9. donate now button 10. csl plasma
The following are for United States Queries only:
Quirky:
Fastest Rising Costumes 1. snooki costume 2. katy perry costume 3. avatar costume 4. iron man costume 5. buzz lightyear costume 6. lady gaga costume 7. antoine dodson costume 8. hit girl costume 9. sock monkey costume 10. kenny powers costume
How to… 1. how to draw 2. how to kiss 3. how to knit 4. how to meditate 5. how to dougie 6. how to flirt 7. how to hack 8. how to fight 9. how to sing 10. how to dance
What is… above image: smkserian.blogspot.com 1. what is love 2. what is skype 3. what is lupus 4. what is gluten 5. what is gout 6. what is twitter 7. what is autism 8. what is 3g 9. what is k2 10. what is hpv
Strangest Searches from the Year 1. can a horse have ocd? 2. am i bipolar or overachiever? 3. why are americans afraid of dragons? 4. ninjas are better than pirates 5. why is a raven like a writing desk? 6. why does brian wilson dye his beard? 7. should i marry him? 8. i wish i could speak whale 9. why couldn't you stand on the sun's surface? 10. why does my baby grunt?
Most Popular People 1. justin bieber 2. lady gaga 3. kim kardashian 4. nicki minaj 5. miley cyrus 6. katy perry 7. lil wayne 8. taylor swift 9. eminem 10. megan fox
Fastest Rising People 1. justin bieber 2. kesha 3. wiz khalifa 4. nicki minaj 5. christina hendricks 6. heidi montag 7. katy perry 8. kid cudi 9. kim kardashian 10. lindsay lohan
Rest in Peace 1. gary coleman 2. alexander mcqueen 3. casey johnson 4. corey haim 5. paul gray 6. peter steele 7. teddy pendergrass 8. dennis hopper 9. leslie nielsen 10. jd salinger
I Thee Wed (Fastest Rising Weddings) 1. rush limbaugh and kathryn rogers 2. hilary duff and mike comrie 3. chelsea clinton and marc mezvinsky 4. carrie underwood and mike fisher 5. katy perry and russell brand 6. alicia keys and swizz beatz 7. carmelo anthony and lala vasquez 8. megan fox and brian austin green 9. emily blunt and john krasinski 10. bethenny frankel and josh hoppy
Breakups 1. sandra bullock and jesse james 2. melissa etheridge and tammy lynn michaels 3. chelsea handler and ted harbert 4. halle berry and gabriel aubry 5. charlize theron and stuart townsend 6. susan sarandon and tim robbins 7. jake pavelka and vienna girardi 8. salman kahn and katrina kaif 9. miley cyrus and liam hemsworth 10. kim kardashian and reggie bush
Haircuts 1. l'il wayne 2. emma watson 3. janet jackson 4. willie nelson 5. rihanna 6. willow smith 7. dorothy hamill 8. hayden panettiere 9. heidi klum 10. joe jonas haircut
TV Show Hosts 1. sarah silverman 2. conan o'brien 3. craig ferguson 4. oprah winfrey 5. ellen degeneres 6. dave chapelle 7. george lopez 8. jay leno 9. tyra banks 10. david letterman
Twitter Accounts 1. justin bieber 2. kim kardashian 3. kanye west 4. lady gaga 5. demi lovato 6. drake 7. lebron james 8. lindsay lohan 9. miley cyrus 10. perez hilton
Entertainment/movies/tv/music/gaming/gadgets:
Fastest Rising Gadgets 1. ipad 2. iphone 4 3. evo 4g 4. palm pre plus 5. sony google tv 6. duracell mygrid 7. nokia 5530 8. sony ereader 9. kindle 10. ipod touch
Fastest Rising Lyrics 1. b.o.b - airplanes 2. nicki minaj - your love 3. travie mccoy - billionaire 4. katy perry - california gurls 5. chris brown - deuces 6. justin bieber - eenie meenie 7. katy perry - firework 8. far east movement - like a g6 9. eminem - space bound 10. katy perry - teenage dream
Fastest Rising Memes 1. forever alone meme 2. inception meme 3. keanu meme 4. tumblr meme 5. frog meme 6. ducreaux meme 7. amber lamps 8. cigar guy 9. deal with it meme 10. double rainbow
Movie Trailers 1. twilight eclipse 2. harry potter and the deathly hallows 3. iron man 2 4. a team 5. alice in wonderland 6. avatar 7. dear john 8. despicable me 9. expendables 10. green lantern
Hot Video Games 1. black ops 2. halo reach 3. mass effect 2 4. starcraft 2 5. poptropica 6. red dead redemption 7. fallout new vegas 8. google pacman 9. pokemon soul silver 10. fable 3
Hottest Seat in Town 1. justin bieber 2. minnesota twins 3. lady gaga 4. oprah 5. super bowl 6. jack johnson 7. chelsea handler 8. texas rangers 9. miami heat 10. sf giants
TV Shows 1. lost 2. american idol 3. snl 4. family guy 5. the office 6. big brother 7. real housewives 8. star trek 9. 24 10. glee
Commercials 1. ipad commercial 2. tebow commercial 3. old spice commercial 4. tiger woods commercial 5. axe commercial 6. doritos commercial 7. lebron james commercial 8. kia commercial 9. black ops commercial 10. geico pig commercial Sports:
Spirit of the World Cup 1. paul the octopus 2. vuvuzela 3. world cup concert 4. espn 3 5. shakira 6. ghana 7. netherlands 8. espn radio 9. univision 10. abc
Fastest Rising Sports Queries 1. world cup schedule 2. olympics 3. lebron james 4. espn 3 5. ufc 6. world cup scores 7. ryder cup 8. curling 9. randy moss 10. shaun white
Winter Olympics Queries 1. ctv olympics 2. olympics medal counts 3. olympics luge crash 4. vancouver olympics schedule 5. curling olympics 6. hockey olympics 7. lindsey vonn 8. ski cross 9. men's halfpipe 10. kim yuna
Coaches 1. mike krzyzewski (duke basketball) 2. wade phillips (dallas cowboys) 3. bruce pearl (tennessee basketball) 4. wendell hudson (alabama football) 5. josh mcdaniels (denver broncos) 6. brad stevens (butler basketball) 7. jim caldwell (indianapolis colts) 8. rex ryan (new york jets) 9. phil jackson (la lakers) 10. erik spoelstra (miami heat)
Most Popular Athletes 1. chael sonnen 2. lorenzen wright 3. scotty lago 4. diego forlan 5. brett favre 6. vincent jackson 7. darrelle revis 8. apolo ohno 9. buster posey 10. sidney rice
Fastest Rising Baseball Players 1. tim lincecum 2. armando galarraga 3. colby lewis 4. ubaldo jimenez 5. cody ross 6. edinson volquez 7. tyler colvin 8. cliff lee 9. roy oswalt 10. lance berkman
Fastest Rising Basketball Players 1. amare stoudemire 2. carmelo anthony 3. donte west 4. lebron james 5. nate robinson 6. chris bosh 7. lorenzen wright 8. mel turpin 9. tracy mcgrady 10. steve blake
Fastest Rising Football Players 1. vincent jackson 2. randy moss 3. miles austin 4. drew brees 5. reggie bush 6. wade phillips 7. colt mccoy 8. brett favre 9. tim tebow 10. andre johnson
Fastest Rising Soccer Players 1. david villa 2. mesut ozil 3. kevin prince 4. sami khedira 5. cristiano ronaldo 6. miroslav klose 7. manuel neuer 8. jesus navas 9. diego forlan 10. gonzalo higuan
Fastest Rising Tennis Players 1. venus williams 2. francesca schiavone 3. mikhail youzhny 4. john isner 5. tsvetana pironkova 6. nicolas mahut 7. ryan harrison 8. samantha stosur 9. teymuraz gabashvili 10. paul annacone Humanity:
Fastest Rising Charitable Giving 1. donate to pakistan 2. donate to haiti 3. text to donate 4. download to donate 5. doctors without borders 6. donate medical supplies 7. red cross 8. unicef 9. donate now button 10. donate bone marrow
Nobel Prize Nominees and Winners 1. barack obama 2. al gore 3. albert einstein 4. dr. louis ignarro 5. elie wiesel 6. andre geim and konstantin novoselov 7. greg mortenson 8. john nash 9. liu xiaobo 10. marie curie
Most Popular Health Queries 1. heart 2. nutrition 3. diabetes 4. blood pressure 5. medicare 6. herpes 7. anxiety 8. back pain 9. hiv 10. thyroid
Fastest Rising in Books & Literature 1. pretty little liars 2. stieg larsson 3. jd salinger 4. sookie stackhouse novels 5. water for elephants 6. robert louis stevenson 7. sherlock holmes 8. ar book finder 9. eragon book 4 10. free ebooks
Data and methodology as per Google:
Methodology
To compile the 2010 Year-End Zeitgeist, we studied the aggregation of billions of queries people typed into Google search this year. We use data from multiple sources, including Insights for Search and internal data tools. We also filter out spam and repeat queries to build out lists that best reflect the spirit of the times. All of the search queries we studied are anonymous—no personal information was used.
A word about how we describe the lists: except where noted, all of these search terms are most popular for 2010—ranked in order of the queries with the largest volume of searches this year. In some cases, we list the “fastest rising” queries, which means we found the most popular searches conducted in 2010 and then ranked them based on how much their popularity increased compared to 2009. Conversely, “fastest falling” queries were very popular in 2009 but flattened in popularity in 2010.
Dig deeper
Our Year-End Zeitgeist is just a small sampling of the queries and search trends that we found interesting this year. If you want to go beyond what we’ve shared here, try using these tools to discover more about global and regional search terms over time (in some cases, as far back as 2004).
Google Trends – For a broad look at search query data, enter up to five search terms to see relative popularity over time. You can use Trends to compare terms in any language from any country—the interface is currently available in U.S. English, Chinese and Japanese.
Trends for Websites – Google Trends for website traffic data. Type in a website address to see visitors by region and related sites visited. Currently available in U.S. English only.
Insights for Search – A closer look at search query data for power users. Create your own lists of “most popular” and “fastest rising” queries for different geographic regions over time and by topic. Insights for Search is available in 40 languages.
Hot Trends (India, Japan, Singapore and U.S. only) – The top 40 fastest-rising search queries right now, updated continuously throughout the day.
Personalize it
Perhaps you just want to take a closer look at your own web behavior over the past year. While the data we used for our Zeitgeist is anonymous and in aggregate, there are a few places you can look to examine your own personal search trends if you have a Google account.
Web History – If you’ve chosen to enable Web History in your Google Account, you can get an interesting glimpse at your own web activity, such as top queries and peak activity over time. To try it out, log into Web History with your Google Account and click on the “Trends” tab. This might not account for all of your web activity, but it can be a fun look back at your query and browsing history over time.
Google Reader – If you use Google Reader to read blogs and other RSS feeds, you can view your reading trends by going to the “Trends” tab under “Your stuff” in the lefthand menu.
Let it live on
Stay up to speed on hot topics from this year and catch the latest new ones as they crop up in 2011. We offer a variety of ways for you to keep up to date on your favorite topics and get more information about them.
Google Alerts – Keep track of the topics that matter to you most by signing up for Google Alerts and receive email updates about the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) for that query.
Realtime Search – Stay up to speed on the latest conversations around your favorite topics with our Realtime Search results. See up to the second tweets, status updates, and more about any topic you care about.
The other day I received a great little gift in the mail. A Tweet Towel from We Are What We Do, a global movement that inspires people to use their everyday behavior to affect big environmental and social issues.
The woven white dish towel had a personal embroidered Tweet to me from the folks at the London-based We Are What We Do, which showed through the clear window of the mailer:
When unboxed, I saw that the 42 X 60 cm absorbent white woven cotton towel had a diagonal hanging hook on reverse corner and embroidered detailing along with the personalized or custom "tweet".
I cannot deny it. It is hip, fun and functional. And a brilliant idea for marketing and branding a company or product. Not to mention that the proceeds from the affordable and clever gift go to fund a worthy cause.
The idea came from mashing up traditional crafts and digital communication. For those less tech-savvy, a "tweet" is a 140 character message that you can send via the website Twitter. And a tea towel is... well you probably know what they are.
All profits go to the We Are What We Do Charitable Foundation, funding their digital inclusion projects to get different generations talking more, sharing more and spending more time together.
Tea towel details: * 42 X 60 cm * Absorbent white woven cotton * Diagonal hanging hook on reverse corner * Satin taffeta label * Packaged in an A4 gift box with clear panel to view personal messages
Machine wash at 40 degrees max. Do not tumble dry. The tea towel is shipped from their responsible suppliers in Turkey and is embroidered in the UK. All the packaging 100% recyclable and they ask that you recycle it as well :)
Social media most undoubtedly has its benefits and its drawbacks. Especially since brands and marketers are still experimenting with the concept.
I've reprinted an article and analysis from Bernhard Warner with a slide share presentation from Social Media Influence's editorial and social media training partner, Custom Communication, who has gone back through six years of social media and compiled a visual narrative of company misadventures with bloggers, tweeters and other social media voices. [Still images added by me].
Since 2004 they’ve identified 37 notable instances where companies have been caught short by social media protests and complaints or where they’ve shot themselves in the foot with dumb marketing.
A snapshot of the history: Given the explosion in social media participation it’s not surprising to see a steady year-on-year increase in social media screw ups but while 2006 saw 7 major incidents the 10 recorded so far this year suggests that corporate communicators and marketers are becoming more savvy in how they engage and look after their online reputation.
The numbers are trending nicely for social media. As the IAB UK points out this week, the surprising surge in online advertising through the first half of 2010 can be attributed in part to more money pouring into social media marketing. There’s another social media figure on the rise, and it’s not quite so inspiring.
According to the new piece of research by Custom Communication, “Social Media Screw Ups – A Short History,” along with the surge in social media investment comes a surge in social media screw-ups by major corporations using these channels to reach the public. 2010 is on pace to see more reputation-bruising social media gaffes than in any previous year. Haven’t they learned anything from the Kryptonite lock fiasco of 2004? Apparently not.
In reviewing the findings, it’s become clear: many of the mistakes are being repeated time and again. We list here the most oft-repeated missteps and misconceptions that lead to trouble.
above: kryptonite lock could be broken with a pen, image courtesy of wired.com
* Underestimating influence/impact of your social media critics. Kryptonite is the business school case study here, but loads of brands since – from Target telling the blogosphere they don’t rate to Nestle telling off eco Facebook protesters – have failed to understand that bloggers/Tweeters and Facebook protesters may not be The Guardian or New York Times, but they do hold plenty of weight.
above: bloggers bitch-slapped L'oreal for using false eyelashes on Penelope Cruz to sell mascara, image from L'oreal
* Giving the online community flashy marketing message when they just want simple, straightforward detail. These days, companies can get into big trouble for issuing fictitious glowing reviews or trotting out seemingly genuine testimonials by paid actors. Even before these consumer protections were put into place, L’Oreal paid a higher price – it got burned by vigilant bloggers.
* Culture of unresponsive/uncaring customer service fuels recurring gripes, becomes PR headache. Dell learned the hard way that Jeff Jarvis’ customer service gripes were not an isolated issue; a massive backlash was brewing. It just took one well-connected critic to put his finger on it and the avalanche ensued.
above: the Diet Coke and Mentos experiments could not be hushed, image from reputation online
* Failing to understand the Coke credo: “our consumers control our brand.” Coca-Cola tried to stifle conversation around the combustible combo of Diet Coke + Mentos. Later, it would acknowledge, you cannot hope to muzzle what everyone is talking about.
above: the Chevy Tahoe commercial competition, image from Chevy.com
* Petition the public for crowdsourced ideas, only to be caught out when they have something nasty to say. Crowdsourcing is in vogue these days, giving loyal fans a chance to name a new product or devise a new softdrink formula. But as Chevrolet learned with its Tahoe SUV, be prepared to get from the public more than a clever new slogan.
above: the controversial Vodaphone tweet and reaction from Vodaphone
* Asleep at the wheel: giving junior employees full reign of the channels and providing them with little direction. What could go wrong? Where to start here? Last year, the epic #fail was engineered by Habitat which gave an “overenthusiastic intern” the keys to the Twitter feed. The result? Famously tweeting sale promotions by piggy-backing on the trending Iran election hashtags. More recently, the Vodafone UK Twitter feed was hijacked by a rogue employee who let fly with the odd homophobic Tweet.
above: Wal-Marting Across America, image from walmart.com
* Attempts at feel-good social media washing won’t come back to bite. Wal-Mart took the most heat here when a folksy, it-will-be-blogged “Wal-Marting Across America” journey emerged just as it was getting pressured elsewhere for its checkered labor practices. All goodwill was lost when it was revealed Wal-Mart was funding the feel-good road trip.
above: negative comments on Nestle's Facebook Fan Page
* Facebook is a forum for fans and “Likes.” Burger King, Nestle, and BP, to name just a few have seen their Facebook pages overwhelmed by critics who want to expose dodgy company practice. Greenpeace has had great success mobilising its followers in a series of corporate Facebook pressure campaigns. BK quickly caved to the demands to cheers. Nestle, on the other hand, shouted back, inviting more opposition.
The biggest culprits – plain dumb marketing, officious customer service and asleep-at-the-wheel moments in monitoring online reputation – are alive and well and triggering protests from the general public. For all the fresh money pouring into social media, we would expect the number of screw-ups to rise before companies really get the message that social media investment means more than crafting a slick campaign. It means two-way dialogue, transparency and, yes, learning from your mistakes. sources: SMI, Reputation Online, Custom Communication
