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Computerworld - Wonder what people were talking about this past year?

Well, Twitter can tell you what we've all been tweeting about -- and that's a pretty good barometer of what's on a lot of minds.

"From earthquakes and politics to pop stars and hash tags, Twitter Trends are a window into what the world is talking about," wrote Jodi Olson, a Twitter spokeswoman, in a blog post. "These Trends indicate the things that are most meaningful in our lives. Each day on Twitter, people tweet about news, sports, entertainment and cool new technology -- and everything else in between."

So what were the top things that people around the world were tweeting about in 2010? Here's what Twitter figured out:

The Gulf oil spill was the most tweeted about topic of the year, according to Olson. The top tweet topic corresponds to one of the most searched-for topics this year, as well.

Earlier this month, Yahoo reported that the Gulf oil spill was the most searched-for topic on all of its sites. People went online in droves to search for where to watch the live, online feed of the oil leak, efforts to cap the spill and to get information about the spill's environmental impact.

For Twitter, after BP's devastating oil spill, there was a wide-ranging mix of hot topics in '10 - a sporting event, a natural disaster, high-tech device and a celebrity that comes into play for the rest of the top 10 list.

The rest of the top 10 include the FIFA World Cup; inception; the earthquake in Haiti; the loud vuvuzelas played at the World Cup games; Apple's popular iPad; Google Android; teen heart throb Justin Bieber; Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, and Pulpo Paul, the famous German octopus that seemed to predict the winner of each of Germany's seven matches in the 2010 World Cup.

Twitter also pulled out a list for the top 10 technology tweets for 2010:

1. Apple iPad
2. Google Android
3. Apple iOS
4. Apple iPhone
5. Call of Duty Black Ops
6. New Twitter
7. HTC
8. RockMelt
9. MacBook Air
10. Google Instant

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at  @sgaudin or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her e-mail address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

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