Well, since everybody rolled out the trends of 2009 at the beginning of December, there’s really nothing left to do this year but make predictions for next year, right? Forrester is going to kick us off with predictions for marketing in social media.

Naturally, they see major growth coming in the SMM arena (which they call “social computing,” but I think that’s something different . . . ). In fact, they see 2010 as they year social media marketing reaches maturity, with marketers (and not just SMMs) focusing on measurement and even getting budgets.

The rise of SMM will lead to more transparency and interactivity, Forrester predicts. And that will make SMM even more valuable to companies. Oh, and Twitter will reach profitability—or be acquired.

I know us Americans tend to view the entire world from our point of view, so it’s easy for us to think that the entire world rotates around Facebook and Twitter.

Not so!

Vincenzo Cosenza has compiled a world map of social networks–highlighting which networks are the most popular in each country.

As you can see, head to Brazil and you’ll find Google’s Orkut thriving. Take a trip to Russia and you’ll see Facebook clone Vkontakte holding firm.

I was able to find a similar map from June 2007. It’s easy to see just how quickly Facebook is taking over the world:

PS. If you prefer tabled data, here’s the 2009 breakdown:

(via)

OK, I have learned my lesson. I am going to tell you right out of the gate that when I read this piece of information about Twitter turning a profit in 2009 I was a bit skeptical. Now, the second part of this is that the source, BusinessWeek, is well, BusinessWeek so I tend to pay attention a bit more. Well, the times they are a changin’ for sure because the distinction between the venerable BusinessWeek and the rest of the Internet space may be less noticeable than before. As I went through the article I read the following