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2007 was The Year of the Social Network. It might as well be a new marker somewhere on an astrological calendar.

Every year Google & other search engines publish a report of the most searched-for terms over the previous 365 days. These terms constitute the “buzz”–what’s really hot on cyberspace and therefore in the real world. Often the buzz is intertwined with what’s big in entertainment, what’s being hotly marketed in stores, and major stories that make the news. The buzz is what matters to us—lots of us.

Of the top 10 fastest rising (global) searches in 2007, Google reports all terms involve social networking or sites with social interaction—except #1, which is the Apple iPhone.

Badoo, Facebook, and Hi5 (consistently among the top searches on Yahoo every day) are the three terms that represent sites designed solely for social networking. eBuddy, another term on Google’s top 10, is a web-based instant messenger allowing users to utilize accounts on MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger, AOL AIM, and other popular options—even if the user’s access is otherwise blocked (such as instant messaging disabled at work or school). Again, a search term steeped in a social theme.

Online games with community features, for adults and children, also ranked highly this year. The wildly popular Second Life remains at the top of search engine charts, while up-and-comers WebKinz and Club Penguin [our review here] (both social sites for kids that involve virtual pets, like the once-juggernaut Neopets) underscore the fact that children today are very ‘net savvy. They’re a new powerhouse market on the www—WebKinz necessitates purchasing stuffed animals that can be played with online, so every child enjoying the WebKinz site is adding a little more cash to Ganz’s (the creators) pockets.

Video sites such as YouTube and Dailymotion also achieved global search stardom in 2007. YouTube is a phenomenon that’s now part of our everyday lexicon, as sure as if Merriam-Webster put it front and center on their dictionary. Sites like Break.com, Funny or Die (who will ever forget Pearl, the abusive 2 year old landlord in Will Ferrell’s short masterpiece this year?), and MySpace Videos also remain popular, but YouTube reigns supreme. Dailymotion was created to focus on animated videos, but a visit to the site reveals it is a cornucopia of live action as well. Both sites allow for user interaction, again bringing social networking into the scheme. Users can create channels, rate videos, leave comments, interact in groups, and more. (Tip for 2008: Keep an eye out for a growing niche video site with the same features, but focused solely on cute pooches: World Wide Fido.)

Google’s top 10 terms for the U.S. contains many of the same searches, with the addition of TMZ (notorious celebrity video and gossip site, which also encourages user interaction through comments), social networking site MySpace (the founders of which also made Barbara Walters’s list of the ten most fascinating people of 2007), tragic Anna Nicole Smith, breakout TV show Heroes, and the Transformers movie.

What we can take away from 2007’s buzz is that the Internet is once again the place for socializing. In its earliest days the ‘net was about interaction, too—before the “Information Superhighway” it was all bulletin boards and chat rooms, remnants of which can still be found in newsgroups such as Usenet. The emphasis now has come full circle. Sites like Facebook and MySpace invite people of all ages to keep up with existing friends and make new ones. The fact that so many sites are also geared towards children just goes to show this trend will not abate. A whole new generation of social networking is on the rise.

I think it will be a safe bet that such sites remain popular in 2008. Safe bets for regular searches will also include celebrities, movies, music, games, TV, and sports. In fact, Yahoo’s Buzz Index tracks all these categories daily, so they are sure to remain themes. But dotted here and there across the board will be sites that allow users to form relationships, network, promote themselves, share their creations, play games together, and otherwise engage in activities where it takes two (or millions) to tango.

Dina Ely is a freelance writer, poet, and author of short fiction. Readers can contact her at dely723@yahoo.com

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 5:37 pm and is filed under The Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.