We absolutely know what you were thinking about this past year?

What do the Iran election, Michael Jackson, Google Wave, Harry Potter, American Idol, the Superbowl and #musicmonday have in common?

Tweets2009

All were the hottest topics of conversation in their category on Twitter in 2009. The image above shows the top 10 topics that were on your mind when commenting on news that interested you, people that fascinated you, movies that moved you, TV shows that raised your blood pressure, technology that wowwed you, sports that got you out of your seat and the largest group-dialogues aggregated by the use of hashtags.

Twitter released this data recently and I’m sure some social scientist will attempt to dissect this to discern patterns of behavior for the common good. Our marketing researchers may wish to find trends to ride. But not being a degreed social scientist I do see what was on our minds as more than curious interest. Consider…

Why is Chuck Norris the sixth most talked about celebrity? Can’t be the bowflex.

What is E3? Who knew there are that many interactive entertainment buffs commenting about an expo more than six months away and make it the #8 most talked about topic?

If you want to know where to put your TV advertising dollars, this Twitter list is your media buy.

Hashtags. I love hashtags. I stopped following people and started following hashtag conversations a while ago even if they appear random. This is no different than parking yourself on the corner stool at the coffee shop and eavesdropping on all the conversations of the day. You want to know what the topic of the day is…check the Twitter trend and follow it for as long as you dare. This is real-time insight into where our collective minds are at this moment in time. Fascinating from a social science perspective, even if you’re not degreed.

So, more than curious interest. if you’re in marketing you should be following this digital source of consumer insights to glean attitudes, wonts, and motivations. If not and you spend your time tweeting about Chuck Norris, then you are missing the largest free source of raw consumer data available.

Any guesses what the hottest topics will be in 2010?