The following ten trending topics are being tweeted about every few minutes and this trend suggests to me that that these topics will continue to buzz for the months to come.

In this article I have linked to Twitter real time searches that show in just how lively the conversation is surrounding these topics. If you have something to say about one of the topics below simply send a tweet my on twitter @Gar1n, or better yet, voice your take by logging into our commenting system with your Twitter account and leaving a comment!

1. #iTablet

The Apple #iTablet computer will hit the market in 2010. Perhaps Amazon will respond with an improved #kindle e-book reader, with a color display, instead of monochrome. The kindle has already sold an estimated 1.5 million units, but since Amazon has not released this number, this is only an estimate and noone really knows how many Amazon has really sold. Steve Jobs is betting that people will find more value in a fully functional machine, especially when emblazoned with the Apple brand. Competitors to Apple and Amazon will likely be entering the tablet market with cheaper alternatives, but for now there is plenty of hype around the Tablet. Yesterday Ben Parr of Mashable posted an article stating that the Tablet would be released in March for around $1,000, and MG Siegler of TechCrunch posted an article stating that this was completely untrue.

2. #Apple

The Apple community continues to thrive and eat into the worldwide smartphone market, where RIM (#Blackberry) is a powerhouse. Applications Expect plenty of Tweets during Macworld 2010 from gebuary 9th-13th in San Franciso this year. I was in SF during Macworld 2009 and it was a very exciting time. A new Apple phone is rumored for release mid-2010, and of course there is the Tablet. Perhaps swipe keyboard technology will become available for more phones with software based keyboards, such as the iPhone, or the Blackberry Storm.

3. #Twitter

In 2010 expect for plenty of talk on Twitter to continue to be about Twitter, and I predict Twitter will continue to grow.

Currently there are about 18,000,000 Twitter users who tweet at least once a month, and I am predicting this number will double to 36,000,000+ users by the end of 2010.

4. #Vancouver2010

With just over a month left until the 2010 Winter Olympics talk on Twitter is already heating up. Twitter is poised to change the way we engage with the Olympics and celebrate Olympians. Vancouver 2010 will be the most tweeted about Olympic games ever, since Twitter is bigger than ever. If you are interested in the 2010 games check out my Vancouver 2010 Twitter list.

5. #Obama

Barack Obama’s successes in 2010 will continue to make waves if he is able to better engage the ongoing social media revolution and create meaningful conversations to hasten the changes he hopes to make. In 2009 #Obama was just getting warmed up. There was plenty of talk on Twitter and else ware about the 2009 #NobelPrize he won for peace. Despite winning this prestigious award, when asked to evaluate his performance so far in office Obama said he would give himself a B+.

6. #Facebook

Facebook will continue to expand their user base around the world. I will not be surprised if Facebook reaches 400,000,000 users. Tech pundit Jason Calacanis is predicting that Facebook will announce their IPO and that this stock market inclusion will make Mark Zuckerberg very rich, and “save silicon valley”. I was not aware that silicon valley needed saving, but the facebook IPO will certainly make waves due to the massive user base and social value facebook has.

7. #aplusk

In 2010 the giants of Twitter will continue to have significant influence in setting the trends in 2010. I am predicting that Ashton Kutcher @aplusk will be dethroned as the “king” of Twitter in 2010. Two serious contenders Ashton will have to worry about in 2010 are Ellen Degeneres @theellenshow and Britney Spears @britneyspears.

8. #Geolocation

MG Siegler thinks Geo location will become an increasing factor in 2010 on the web, and I agree. Twitter may become more financially viable as they offer enhanced super tweets featuring geographical information. Foursquare and Gowalla are two mobile Geo tagging apps that I see tweets from every day. I think Gowalla is iPhone only, but Foursquare has functional apps for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and Palm platforms. I have downloaded both iPhone apps and I prefer Foursquare. I heard one Gowalla user who sent a tweet complaining that he was receiving ads from Gowalla via push notifications.

9. #Google

Google is poised to increase their dominance of the Internet with Wave becoming more mainstream, search becomes more real time, and the Chrome web browser continuing to increase market share. Google is also entered into direct competition with Microsoft in the Operating System industry when they announced a Chrome OS, optimized for web browsing, earlier this year. My thoughts about Google are that as long as they are the most traffic heavy site on the web, they will continue to expand their business activities successfully into other areas of the tech industry. As long as Google continues to generate revenue and receive new investments they can continue to pour cash into new innovative products like the Droid and the new Google phone Nexus One.

10. #AugmentedReality

Augmented reality is the process by which a real life situation is augmented with additional graphics or information to create a mixed reality of a physical and a digital environment. This concept has been increasingly implemented in apps for smartphones with cameras, but was also applied in a very innovative and cool way by GE to demonstrate the new smart grid they are implementing.

Three of my favorite examples of augmented reality are:

• GE Ecomagination Smart Grid, which you need to see to appreciate.
• Gunman, an iPhone app that turns iphones into a game of virtual paint ball.
• Google Goggles, a way of augmenting information onto pictures.

Google Goggles especially is a very cool mobile app that augments information of storefronts and products from pictures snapped from a mobile phone. Below is a video created by Google explaining the new service, which is only available on Google’s Android platform for smart phones. The potential for this technology to develop is profound, so expect plenty of tweets as Google makes updates to their software in the months to come.

Feedback

What was your favorite trending topic of 2009? What trending topics do you expect to see in 2010? What do you think will be the most tweeted about topic from the list above?

Twitter recently added a new addition to the goodies section of their website, featuring official twitter buttons. Twitter buttons are a welcome addition to the goodies section, which has for some time included only some of the more popular twitter applications, and customizable status and list widgets. An example of a custom list widget can be seen in the sidebar to the right.

A preview of the official Twitter buttons page:

TwitStamp Widgets

Twitstamp offers a wide variety of Twitter “stamp” widgets that include embedded status updates. Some of my favorites are embedded below.

Twittercounter Buttons

Another popular button you might have noticed from around the Web is the Twittercounter follow count widget.

More Twitter Buttons and Logos

TwitterLogos.com claims to have the largest collection of Twitter buttons and logos on the web. Graphic designers can also submit their work if they want to share their designs.

The following 10 free resources are the best ways to shorten and customize links on the web. With the link shortening services below you will be able to make links really short, customize them, track their analytics, and share them easily. Not all link shortening services offer all of these features. Read the list below and let us know in the comments what your favorite link shortening service is!

1. bit.ly

bit.ly is the default url shortening service offered by Twitter. It is my favorite url shortening service since it offers built-in link tracking and analytics, a cool sidebar bookmarklet, a firefox extension, native Twitter posting support, and more!

Example: http://bit.ly/gar1n

2. j.mp

j.mp is owned by the same company, and by the same technology as bit.ly. The difference is the name. j.mp is 2 characters shorter than bit.ly for the Tweets that are cutting it close to the 140 limit.

Example: http://j.mp/vanhalen

3. 3.ly

3.ly offers the “worlds shortest” URLs. Since they are less well known than j.mp they offer more availability for custom domains. To view the hit count of a 3.ly link simply add a minus sign – to the end of your URL.

Example: http://3.ly/googleapps

4. Tinyurl.com

Tinyurl.com was the standard url shortening service before bit.ly was developed. They have already shortened over 400 million links. The downside to this is that many custom urls are already taken. TinyURL offers a browser bookmark button that will provide a TinyURL of the page you are on. TinyURL also offers a preview feature for your browser that will allow you to preview where a TinyURL will go, before you click on the link.

5. Su.pr

Su.pr is the only URL shortening service that also helps your content get more traffic! Every Su.pr URL you create exposes your content to StumbleUpon’s nearly 8 million users. You will need a StumbleUpon account to access the Twitter integration, traffic analytics, and custom URLs.

6. TinyURL.com

TinyURL is a URL Shortening Service that offers a browser bookmark button that will provide a TinyURL of the page you are on. TinyURL also offers a preview feature for your browser that will allow you to preview where a TinyURL will go, before you click on the link.

7. Is.gd

Is.gd is a good URL shortening service.

8. URLcut.com

A simple service that you can use to shorten long URLs and password-protect them.

Example: http://urlcut.com/1tvaf

9. Goo.gl

goo.gl is a URL shortening service offered by Google. To use the service you must download the Google Toolbar.

Example: http://goo.gl/l6MS

10. Youtu.be

YouTube links can be shortened by editing the URL. For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEDOXHEfxrw can be shortened to http://youtu.be/PEDOXHEfxrw. Both links direct to the same video.

Feedback

What is your favorite URL shortening service?

Twitter is a Powerful Platform for communication.  Part of the reason that Twitter has been so successful is because there is a developer friendly API that helps developers build powerful Twitter apps, fast.  Below I list the most powerful ways to engage with Twitter that I am aware of.  If you find these tips helpful your comments are appreciated below!

1. Befriend the Giants

Unless you are @aplusk, someone else has a bigger network than you. The great thing about Twitter is the ability to talk to people who have bigger networks than you do.  I am friends with Jason Pollock who has brought a significant amount of traffic my way when he Retweeted me several times.  Although Jason Pollock does not have a network of 3 million+ people, when Ashton Kutcher Retweets Jason (and he has several times) then Jason potentially has the attention of millions.  Befriending Jason, Scobleizer, Rob McNealy, Tom Maduri, and others on Facebook and Twitter has helped me net some serious big name retweets.  One night when I went to Robert Scoble’s house and drank wine with Scoble and my cousin Luke. Scoble made a friendfeed post with my name in it that received over 800 comments.   Spark the right kind of interest and you could get the attention of someone like Ashton, or Ellen.

2. TweetDeck is Powerful

The latest version of TweetDeck is the most powerful yet and offers auto link shortening and bit.ly account integration. I just produced a Tutorial covering the new features. Here it is:

With TweetDeck you can manage multiple accounts, and it now also features Facebook & Myspace posting capabilities. TweetDeck works on a PC or a MAC and you can download TweetDeck for free.

3. Shorten & Track your Links

The link shortening service bit.ly is the default link shortening service for Twitter.  Shorten your links with an alternative system and it has been proven that you will lose out on clicks. Bit.ly is the best link shortening system to use since it has a robust link tracking system built right in.  One reason bit.ly was brought in to replace tinyurl.com was because the short url makes shorter links.  With a limit of 140 characters space is at a premium.  If you need to go another 2 characters shorter than bit.ly then look no farther than the worlds smallest link shortening service 3.ly.

4. Integrate Twitter into your Blog

One cool way to integrate Twitter conversation and flickr photos into your Blog is by using TwitterFountain. Twitter Fountain is a visually cool way to watch a stream of tweets about a specific topic.

5. Add a bit.ly ReTweet Button to your Blog Posts!

eJohn, the inventor of jquery, created a wicked Twitter Retweet Button based on bit.ly link clicks, instead of just ReTweets. This gives a better indicator of how much of an impact any post has had by tracking the total number of times the link to the post has been used. This is the style of Twitter ReTweet button I use on Interawesome.com.

6. Give Twitter some Oomph!

A free account with Social Oomph will give you get everything you will need to automatically schedule messages, stop following people who unfollow you, auto-follow people who do follow you, and more! Social Oomph offers automatic Direct Messaging services also, but I do not recommend you use them.  Most people I have met hate DMs because too many are Spam.  Another valuable service SocialOomph provides is a DM Inbox purging feature that will help you unload all messages from a flooded direct message inbox.

7. Join the Wefollow Twitter Directory

Wefollow was developed by a team that was led by Kevin Rose, founder of Digg. The site now automates the process of adding yourself to the directory, but it used to be facilitated entirely via Twitter tweets.  Follow the process on wefollow.com with the form shown below to add yourself to the directory: To add yourself to different topic categories in the directory simply mark your category choices as I did above.  This takes only a minute and allows you to list yourself under relevant categories with likeminded people.

8. Check out Twitter Widgets & Goodies

There is a Widgets Section of Twitter.com that makes it easy to customize and grab the embed code for different types of Widgets. The first style they offer is a traditional Flash based Status Widget:

9. Use #Hashtags

#Hashtags are a great way to organize tweets into common trending threads.  They are powerful because they linkify the text string they are attached to and connect conversations based on a keyword. If #Hashtags are used excessively they become a Trending Topic and all of Twitter can jump in on the conversation.  If a #Hashtag sparks a readers interest the person reading it can click the #Hashtag and view all recent tweets by other people who have used the same #Hashtag.

10. Make your followers Mutual

Mutualityis a free service that works by automatically un-following anyone you follow that does not follow you back. Mutuality also gives you the option to unfollow everyone if you so choose, a service that other sites charge upwards of $20 for. Personally, I do not recommend unfollowing everyone.  By unfollowing everyone you will miss out on valuable connections you have made since you joined Twitter, and you may never get them back.  At the same time I understand why people might want to use this service, because there are way too many spammers on Twitter.  My Direct Message Inbox is constantly flooded, which is why I recommend against using Auto-DMs!

11. Tweet Everywhere

Many people openly admit that their favorite place to Tweet is from the toilet. iJustine and Shaq are two self-admitted toilet twitterers, and they are not alone.  Toilet tweeting would be more difficult without mobile phones, and there are many different Twitter apps for many different types of phones. For a Blackberry I recommend Twitterberry.  On my iPhone I continue my TweetDeck fixation and use the free TweetDeck for iPhone App. By using one of these Apps, or simply by updating to Twitter via SMS, you have the power to get your message out to the world whenever and wherever the inspiration to tweet strikes you!

Feedback

Where is your favorite place to Tweet from?  What is your favorite Twitter App?  Heck, say anything you want about Twitter or your take on the Tips above!

Yes it can happen to you.  Although I have never had my personal account suspended, I have had another account that I managed suspended for “aggressive following.”  The account was completely legitimate so when it was suspended I naturally followed the steps of submitting a help request to get it back.  This help request was tactfully written, and it articulated in several sentences the different reasons why our account was legitimate and deserved to be reactivated. And then, without explanation, the help request was closed.

Shocked, but still in need of a solution, I contacted Twitter support using my personal account via an @reply. It was @tiger that resolved my problem, but I did not ask her for help immediately. I commented on one of her Tweets first, before bringing up the issue of the suspended account. Charm always helps . Once I mentioned my support issue it was resolved within minutes. So if you ever need help from Twitter support my recommendation is that you open another account and send an @reply to one or more of the following people.

Who Works For Twitter Support?

• Emily (@tiger). Twitter Support. This is the person that helped me.
• Crystal (@crystal). Crystal leads the Twitter support team.
• andr8a (@andr8a). Works in Twitter support
• Del (@delbius). Del is responsible for Twitter abuse and spam-control.
• Luke Esterkyn (@lukester). Luke works in Twitter support.
• Mark Hegge (@mhegge). Mark Hegge works in Twitter’s support team.
• Jenna Sampson (@jennadawn). Jenna is a communications associate at Twitter. I’m guessing that means support.

Feedback

If you know of someone who works for Twitter support that is not listed, or to share your Twitter support story leave a comment below.

By: Garin Kilpatrick

Twitter is a great way to connect with new people and to help swell your sphere of influence by thousands if you are so inclined. From my research from watching my Twitter Stream I have read many blog posts and come up with 5 tips that will help you on your way to becoming a Twitter Pro! Using these five Tips combined with working hard to connect with new people are the reasons why I now have over 24,000 followers and why I continue to connect with new people via Twitter every single day.

Twitter Tip #1 – Tweet Like a Pro

A great way to tweet like a pro is to tweet about the hottest stories on twitter.

TweetMeme.com is just one way to find the hottest topics, you can also search twitter for topics you are interested or you can jump in on Trending Topics. A history of all trending topics is tweeted about by @trendingtopics.

I find that there is usually at least one trending topic at any time that I can use to easily find something to tweet about.

Some people say that Hash Tags are dead but using the hashtag in the tweet above included my tweet in a common trending topic hashtag thread. If you don’t use a hash tag (#) when there is one beside the trending topic title (ie. #MichaelJackson) then your comment will not be included in the trending topic thread on Twitter or included in related websites like HashTags.org.

Write Re-Tweetable Tweets. You should try whenever possible to leave the length of your username so that if someone likes your tweet they will have enough space to retweet your name. My Username (@GarinKilpatrick) is 15 letters (16 with the @ symbol) so I subtract this from 140 and try and make all of my tweets under 124 so that they can be retweeted easily. If you are not completely sure about what re-tweeting is pay extra attention to this next tip.

Twitter Tip #2 – ReTweet Like a Pro

ReTweeting is the act of re-delivering a message of another Twitter user, and giving them credit.

So here is how to ReTweet.

The Tweet about this Blog Post: 5 Tips to Use Twitter like a Pro http://bit.ly/5twittertips

Is ReTweeted Properly like this:

@YourUsername: RT @GarinKilpatrick 5 Tips to Use Twitter like a Pro http://bit.ly/5twittertips

or @YourUsername: 5 Tips to Use Twitter like a Pro! http://bit.ly/5twittertips (via @GarinKilpatrick)

or @YourUsername: Your comments (great post!) RT @GarinKilpatrick 5 Tips to Use Twitter like a Pro! http://bit.ly/5twittertips

There is even a Retweeting News site called the Retweetist that tracks ReTweets and lists them in order.

One strategy that some people use to help spread the really important posts is by asking people to please retweet. For example since I really want people to know about this Blog post I will probably tweet this: 5 Tips to Use Twitter like a Professional http://bit.ly/5twittertips (Please RT!

Twitter Tip #3 – Use A Twitter Program li

A Twitter Program is software that you can download for free that works as an interface between you and Twitter. I like to use the Web Based version of Twitter in tandem with an Application, because the programs Seemsic Desktop, TweetDeck and Twhirl, offer unique tools that are not available through the browser.

Some of the unique features these programs offer:

• Seemsic Desktop imports your Facebook Stream, and has built in link shortening.

• Twhirl (Also owned by seesmic) provides a compact interface and also supports friendfeed integration.

• TweetDeck is the most popular twitter program right now. It supports facebook status posts, groups, translation, customization, and more.

All three of these programs are available for Windows or Mac.

My Recommendations. Right now TweetDeck is the most powerful program. Seesmic is doing a good job as competition with their Seesmic Desktop and Twhirl and they are certainly a company to look out for.

Twitter Tip #4 – Be a Twitter Pro on the Go

Life happens everywhere, not just when you are sitting down at your computer. Tweeting on the go is is fun, and there are many different mobile apps allow you to engage with Twitter on different mobile devices. Due to it’s text messaging style and strong mobile presence Twitter is probably the best way to get up to the minute breaking news, (or to spread it.)

Mobile Twitter Applications for the iPhone include TweetDeck and Tweetie, among others, and for the Blackberry my favorite app is TwitterBerry! There are so many apps out there for these devices that I have not had the time yet to investigate them all, so please share your favorites in the comments below!

Twitter Tip #5 – Link like a Pro

Twitter shortens long links automatically using the link shortening service bit.ly. To link like a pro I recommend you take 2 seconds and sign up for a bit.ly account. Once you are signed up you can create custom links as I am doing in the image below.

By entering “5twittertips” into the field above I was able to create the link http://bit.ly/5twittertips for this post. Since I have an account I am also able to keep track of how many visitors have visited each link. There is also a box beneath the custom name field (partially visible above) which allows you to tweet your newly created link to Twitter directly within bit.ly.

Bonus Tip: Want an even shorter link? Try using the “world smallest” url shortening service 3.ly.

And those are my 5 Twitter Tips! Make sure to check out my Ultimate Tweetdeck Tutorial and add a comment below!