It’s that time of year again, when we put into perspective our goals over the last year and look forward to renewing our efforts in the year ahead. While some media outlets and blogs might be content to share lists of top ideas and their favorites things (something my blog does each month), this year I feel compelled to share my hopes for the year ahead by reviewing trends from 2010 I would look forward to leaving behind. Here are the 7 Trends I won’t miss in 2011:

1. Oversharing
   We all have a friend who uses every opportunity to promote themselves, seemingly with no limit to the minutia of their everyday life (I may be guilty of this more than once). But while you may think that your minor inconvenience is an outrage whose solution is only a Twitter-rant away, the rest of us see it as crying over spilled milk. Oversharing was at its end in 2009, so I hope this comes to an close in 2011.
2. Food Trucks
   Sure they bring much needed affordable options and variety to an otherwise staid lunch scene in NYC, but mobile food vendors carry some strong negatives as well. Many trucks try to occupy the same spots each day and are about as mobile as a trailer home, which detracts local competition while crowding the sidewalks. Meanwhile their constant use turns would-be vendors into portable smokestacks contributing their greenhouse gases in return for any savings on food.
3. Tea Partiers
   2009’s insurgent protectors turned into the populist political organizers that dominated the news by turning over control of congress in the 2010 elections. In 2011 these conservative ideologues will have put put their protests into actionable legislative efforts, which will undoubtedly involve negotiation and compromise on core principles, although I have my own doubts their party will continue much longer after the elections.
4. Privacy scare-tactics
   While the steady erosion of privacy has been going on for the better part of the last decade, sometimes we forget that what we share online is usually a consumer’s choice. The same critics who often lament about the social networks benefit from their key utility to make the internet more open and tailored to our interests. At least all those targeted-ads are usually what makes the internet Free, a trend I’d like to see continue in 2011.
5. Lebron James
   This athlete’s consistently aloof free-agency period, culminating in his own ESPN special to announce his decision, kept Basketball fans on edge as their home teams courted this all-star player. With his decision to join other all-stars in Miami, he will have to prove he can lead a team to the finals this year and live up to his own hype.
6. Apple overhype
   As one of the best respected brands in the world I expect Apple to stay in the news with their innovative software and designs. The year Began with the introduction of the iPad, perpetually keeping Apple in the news during Gizmodo’s iPhone journo-theft, continued with Antenna-gate, an concluded in record profit. With their famous secrecy motivating the media to go greater lengths to analyze the company’s every move, I just hope it’s a promise they can expect to live up to in the year.
7. Premature calls about the “Death of the Web”
   Yes, mobile Internet usage is increasing (as expected) and application-based use like Netflix streaming is exploding in the US, but innovation hasn’t ended for the browser. I look forward to more great ideas in 2011!

My Resolution this year is to measure daily activity in my own life, and to use this data to identify opportunities to make improvements (including the token resolution to lose weight). In the year ahead I promise to use this website to share insights about online communication which are more immediately applicable, without resorting to merely bloging about the latest trends. I look forward to new height of professional challenges and to many more new ideas I hope to share with you in 2011!