Wrapping up the year with a special edition of my social media picks of the week, centered around the best of 2010 and New Year’s Eve:

The Best Of…
The best tech, music and more from 2010

Best, Worst, and Surprise Tech of 2010:

Mashable came out with a list of the best win, flop, and surprise tech of 2010. The winner for 2010 was the iPad. The iPad proved to be a huge success; Apple sold over 8.5 million in 2010. Mashable chose Google Buzz as the biggest flop of 2010, and Groupon as the biggest surprise of 2010. Google Buzz, essentially a mesh of gmail and the status update, never took off. The deal a day service Groupon, on the other hand, is so popular it is now worth a reported $6 billion dollars (Oh, and did I mention, Google tried to buy Groupon…).

Best (i)Tunes of 2010:

What is the top music of 2010? According to iTunes, the top singles include Train, “Hey, Soul Sister,” Katy Perry, “California Gurls” (feat. Snoop Dogg), Eminem, “Love the Way You Lie” (feat. Rihanna), and Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”. Best selling albums of 2010 included Eminem, Recovery, Lady Gaga, The Fame, Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More, and Jack Johnson, To the Sea. See full list here: http://bit.ly/haj6vf

More Best of Tech:

Other tech items that make my list include Microsoft Kinect, which is a controller free game console.1 million Kinect’s were sold in the first month. Also, the iPhone 4 turned out to be a huge hit in 2010, with HD photo capabilities, Facetime, and a multitouch display. What were your favorite technology items of 2010?

The Night Of…
Ensuring a fun-filled and connected New Years Eve.

Time Square Countdown:

Access Time Square from anywhere. The official time square ball holiday app counts down and shows footage of the ball drop. So for those who can’t make it to NYC for NYE, at least you don’t have to miss the show.

If you’re in Time Square on NYE and are the mayor of the Time Square Visitor Center by noon on NYE, you win 2 tickets to the official New Year’s Eve VIP Party. Details here.

SCVNGR+AE=4Charity:

If you are in Time Square for New Years Eve, you might like to know that SCVNGR is teaming up with America Eagle this New Years Eve. For every SCVNGR task you complete, SCVNGR/AE will donate $10 to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Skal!:

IKEA has created the app, Skal!, which is a fun NYE toasting app. You pick your glass style and watch it fill with champagne. Clink glasses with the iPhone next to you and your contact information will be shared, and a snapshot photo will be taken of the cheers for you or your friend to post on Facebook or Twitter.

For the Kids:

Have kids? Jeff Kelley (@JephKelley) found this great website where you can set the time you want an animated ball to drop – be it 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, or 11pm. It even does the count down. So, change the clocks, put this website up, and the kids will think they’re staying up for the fun.

More To Come…
Looking forward to 2011

Is iPad 2 coming soon? When will Facebook update company pages (we’ve seen a sneak peek of what they’ll likely look like)? Will Verizon carry the iPhone in 2011? What new technology will we be introduced to at CES? With the ever-changing landscape of social media, I can’t wait to see what’s to come in 2011. Thanks for tuning into my picks of the week this year… exciting changes to come for my pick’s as well!  Happy New Year’s!

-Anna (@alucas9)