In case you weren’t sure, this week marked the beginning of a New Year. You know what that means: a 2010 Year-in-Review from every blog, newspaper, magazine, and random mailing list you still receive and don’t know why. So to add to the pile, I’m taking a look back at my 2010 predictions to see how well I did (I wasn’t terrible!)

Prediction #1: Twitter will remain unpopular among college age students.

Verdict: Kind of.

It’s hard to say whether this prediction is right or wrong as Twitter does not often release usage statistics, but PEW Internet recently released an interesting study on social media usage by demographic. While the younger age group (15-24) still makes up a majority of social media users, the fastest growing group is the over 74 year cohort. This neither proves nor disproves my prediction, but it is still an interesting statistic!

Prediction #2: Twitter will be bought.

Verdict: False.

Okay, so Twitter wasn’t bought. BUT, I did say that they would not monetize. Given that they have not released any information regarding their profits (and given that they probably would have if they were actually making a profit), I’m going to postpone this prediction to 2011.

Prediction #3: LinkedIn profile expansion among college age students.

Verdict: False.

It seems that most college students still don’t understand the power of networking sites like LinkedIn. The usage demographic remains heavily skewed towards the older male demographic with fewer than 4% of users in the 18-24 age group. Hopefully my E-Book about Networking for New Grads will help that.

Prediction #4: People will actually start to care about Facebook privacy.

Verdict: True.

This summer, Facebook’s privacy debacle made headlines on almost all major newspapers. It’s agreed by basically all journalists that Facebook screwed up royally. Whether anyone actually cared about it? I hope so!

Prediction #5: Explosion in sales of E-book Readers and 3D TVs.

Verdict: Half true.

Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? The Kindle has dominated the Amazon Best Seller’s list for the entire year. Gartner group reported in December that electronic book readers would reach 6.6 million by the end of 2010, which is a 79% increase from 2009.  If only I’d stopped there.  Due to a serious lack of content, 3D TV sales this holiday were dismal at best.  Guess no one wants to wear funky glasses in their living room.

Prediction #6: More cross-over between social platforms.

Verdict: True.

You can login to almost any website now using Facebook Connect and Twitter now allows you to look for friends by connecting your LinkedIn profile. The Facebook and Twitter APIs also allow lots of social media newcomers like bookmarking site Diigo to send updates straight to Facebook and Twitter.

Prediction #7: Pressure from baby boomers to improve Facebook usability.

Verdict: Kind of.

This is a hard prediction to measure and I don’t think there can be a definite answer. What we do know is that baby boomers are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook, so Facebook is making more of an effort to cater to this age group. I recently set up my aunt on Facebook and saw that they have a great new “Welcome to Facebook” page, something I would not have seen when I joined the site back in 2006. If they keep adding features like this to improve usability, I think baby boomers will continue to flock.

Prediction #8: Google Wave will be an epic fail.

Verdict. SO true.

You may ask, “What is Google Wave?” Exactly. Google announced this August that they would no longer be developing their Google Wave product.  From one of the most buzzed about products in 2009 to a discontinued service in 2010, this definitely qualifies an epic fail.

Prediction #9: Backlash towards telegraphic communication.

Verdict: False.

Guess I was wrong. People don’t seem to have a problem with twitter’s 140 character limit. Is social media making us dumber?

Prediction #10: Service that combines personal recommendations with personal networks.

Verdict: True.

Facebook has been doing this all over the place. With their Facebook Connect and API, websites can creepily steal utilize information on your facebook profile to offer recommendations based on what your friends like.

Well there you have it. With four and a half true, three false, and two kind of, I’d say that’s a pretty good showing for 2010. Check back soon to see a new set of predictions for 2011.

Happy 2010! After four months abroad in Spain, I am back in the United States, settling back into Chipotle burritos, big SUVs, free tap water at restaurants, and going to bed at midnight instead of 6am. And it’s great. Although it’s not great that I haven’t written since December, but it’s a new year! So here are 10 new thoughts on the emerging trends of 2010.

4. People will actually start to care about Facebook privacy.

You’ve heard of the horror stories of students getting fired from their jobs for saying bad things about their bosses on Facebook.

In 2010, students will be more aware of their online reputation, increase their privacy settings across the board and cut back on the incriminating keg-stand photos.

And there you have my predictions for 2010! Do you agree? Disagree? Have predictions of your own? Leave a comment and let me know.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any money lost due to gambling these claims. Unless you win.