Google and Twitter release 2010 trends by Tariq @ Adrac Ltd

This past week, Google has predominately been in the clouds with its Chrome Web Store and Chrome OS pilot program.

However, while it was promoting the Chrome brand, it also announced its annual Zeitgeist, an overview of the popular searches of the year.

My first thought was “… really? People searched for that?”

To explain, I assumed the web is so firmly embroiled with the entertainment industry that we would expect celebrities to always be at the top of the tree in searches. WRONG. The quickest rising query of 2010 was Chatroulette with Friv and Myxer also in the top 10?

At least when Twitter will announce its 2010 overall top trending topics, we will see something to showcase our maturity in the top 10. Oh wait, Vuvuzela and Pulpo Paul are there. I have to admit I also tweeted about both these topics when they were trending – oops!

Then there is YouTube, where millions of people spend endless hours watching the most random clips ever created. Did we expect anything else from its top 10 of 2010? Again, I must admit I contributed to their success; I had watched all 10 of the clips before the list was announced, such as the Bed Intruder song, Tik Tok Parody, Greyson Chance.

A year ago Pulpo Paul, Chatroulette and Antoine Dodson were not in the consciousness of the public. This just goes to show the power of the internet; even the most apparently random things in the world, with the right exposure and online presence, can achieve worldwide recognition in one year, or even within an hour.