2009 will be marked as the year the world fell in love with social networking. As we begin the new decade, Facebook claims to have 350 million active users, 35 million of whom update their status at least once a day. Seventy percent of Facebook’s users live outside of the United States, so we have witnessed a true worldwide phenomenon. Twitter showed staggering growth through much of 2009, at one point boasting a monthly growth of 1,382 percent. The names of the big players may change in the future, but the sense of connection we have with our families, friends, coworkers, and everyday acquaintances is something that is here to stay. 

The next question is... Where do we go from here?

Mobile devices like the iPhone, Nexus One and Blackberry have allowed many of us to access and share information in true real-time. The capabilities of GPS enabled devices now allows us to not only share our experiences, but also the locations and environments in which they occur. Location sharing services such as Gowalla, Foursquare, and Google Latitude are the latest wrinkle in the social networking tapestry.  While it is expected that Facebook and Twitter will continue to include more location based features in the future, some of these services are definitely worth checking out and will give you a preview of some things you could see integrated into both Twitter and Facebook in the near future. 

The world continues to grow larger, but sharing with others constantly reminds us of all we have in common. For some, sharing so much information will seem risky. Privacy settings and filters will ultimately allow us to share information with only the people we trust and know. In my opinion, the reward far outweighs the risk. As people become more transparent and open we can better use our time together to simply enjoy the experiences we share and leave us with more time to dream of bigger business ideas that harness the power of the social networks.