1. Twitter goes mainstream. Remember when your mom first got email, and would call you on the phone to tell you that she was about to email you? Some time next year, she will email you to announce an impending Tweet.
2. The spinning .gif makes a comeback. The era of Bad Web Design is now long enough in the past that conversation pieces such as animated logos, Flash intros, table-based layouts, and the blink tag can now be claimed as ironic retro-chic design statements.
3. Social media penetration indicates corporate health. Companies executing a well-defined social media strategy tend to fare better in the recession than those without, since they can use SM tools to connect better with their customers, identify new markets and opportunities, and in general be ahead of the curve in making the adjustments necessary to succeed through the economic turmoil. However…
4. Social media still doesn’t become a core business strategy, because the correlation above won’t become widely apparent until late 2009 or early 2010.
5. IE6 just won’t die. More consumers will delay replacing their aging Windows systems over the next year due to economic factors, so expect the gradual phasing out of IE6 to slow – bottoming out at 13% of the browser market in 2009. In other words, don’t toss those conditional stylesheets just yet.
6. A major metropolitan daily newspaper goes Web-only. Pretty low-hanging fruit, as predictions go. The Christian Science Monitor’s move is seen as a bellwether that carries over to the beleaguered print news industry as they abandon their current, broken business model.
7. Automakers sell new cars online. Speaking of broken business models, the Big 3 and their foreign competitors look to trim overhead costs by allowing car purchases online. The concept of dealerships changes, as those that survive maintain a much-reduced stock primarily so you can take a test drive before you select your make, model, options, and financing online.
8. National online job network. As part of his economic recovery and jobs program, President Obama will authorize the creation of a national network to match unemployed job seekers with available positions and training. Applicants will receive incentives to train for green technology jobs.
9. MySpace prevents a suicide. Concerned webcam voyeurs call 911 in the nick of time to rescue a distressed teenager. But the mainstream media fails to pick up the story since it’s not obvious how such a story will help to sell newspapers.
10. The Beatles are on iTunes! No, wait – that was last year. Or not. Or maybe 2010.

Image: “Time Spiral” by Gadl on Flickr.