2008: the surfer’s yearfrom a desk in Paris

1. 2008 : the surfer’s year from a desk in Paris

2. Deception. We learn that a fake journalist, Rachel Bekerman, administered a Facebook group with 1,300 French-speaking journalists, sending them disguised marketing information. Cornered by Le Monde , she admits she’s a press officer and names her clients. Some deny it; others - including Seesmic - don’t. More than a year later, it’s still unclear who was behind Rachel Bekerman, whose Facebook profile is still active. January February March April May June July August September October November December

3. New opinion leaders. The scandal of 31-year-old rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, who cost his employer Société Générale almost €5 billion, hits the headlines. It also demonstrates how new opinion leaders can emerge on the Internet, such as Jaï of the Duo&Co blog, who becomes a reference by explaining the crisis. January February March April May June July August September October November December

4. Netbooks. After the iPhone, here comes the Asus Eee PC marketed by operator SFR. The web gets more mobile. Image FlickR Creative Commons. January February March April May June July August September October November December

5. Business. Microsoft offers $44.6 billion for Yahoo. And then? Er… would someone care to pick up from here? Image FlickR Creative Commons. January February March April May June July August September October November December

6. Trends. More than 60% of the French are now Internet users, according to Médiamétrie. Image FlickR Creative Commons. January February March April May June July August September October November December

7. Bad Buzz. Leparisien.fr posts a video of President Sarkozy at the Paris agricultural trade show telling a farmer who refuses to shake his hand: “Piss off then you little shit”. The episode shows the muckraking potential of the .fr players and the “end of the off-the-record” that would later affect Justice Minister Rachida Dati. January February March April May June July August September October November December

8. Viral marketing. We can’t get enough of Transport for London’s moonwalking bear. January February March April May June July August September October November December

9. Webpolitics. Are the French bored with online campaigning, as the municipal elections would indicate? More likely, online political communication has become "normalised" and interest in the elections is difficult to gauge due to the existence of 36,000 municipalities in France… January February March April May June July August September October November December

10. New media. Edwy Plénel and his partners launch Mediapart, going against the trend with their subscription-only news service. Six months later they have 11,000 subscribers: below their target of 25,000 at year-end but still keeping it up and acting as a lab for a new business model. Image FlickR Creative Commons. January February March April May June July August September October November December

11. Old media. Despite the presidential elections, it is confirmed that French print press circulation declined in 2007 - by 0.3%. January February March April May June July August September October November December

12. Consumerism. We already know that it’s difficult to make things seem prettier than they are on the web: more proof with the Pundo 3000 website, which compares a product’s packaging with its actual content. Bon appétit! January February March April May June July August September October November December

13. Business. While YouTube accounts for 50% of Google’s audience, it only generates 1% of its revenues. Google CEO Eric Schmidt declares: "the money isn’t in the web 2.0". Image FlickR Creative Commons. January February March April May June July August September October November December

14. Services. The new "websites" option of Google Trends shows changes in estimated traffic of selected websites. About time. January February March April May June July August September October November December

15. Viral marketing. Where The Hell Is Matt will be the year’s second most watched online video (after Yes We Can by Will I am). The campaign’s instigator, Stride, remains very discreet. January February March April May June July August September October November December

16. Business. Online advertising gains 38% in the first half, the only growing segment of the advertising industry. 3rd, 4th or 5th media? I won’t attempt any comparisons, due to the issue of whether to include search, the fact that the (many) discounts aren’t factored in and that the methodology estimates a "value of space" without taking CPC into consideration. January February March April May June July August September October November December

17. Trends. The hunt is on for a successor to Facebook as the 2.0 phenomenon of the year. Libération dedicates its front page to Twitter - a media successor if not quite a consumer success. At the end of 2008, there will be about 20,000 French twitterers, while Facebook accounts in France soared from 1 to 6 million over the year. January February March April May June July August September October November December

18. Services. Google launches its Chrome browser (and explains it with a comic strip). January February March April May June July August September October November December

19. New media. In France, we know how to do real Rich Media. Géo receives an award from the Online News Association for its web documentaries. January February March April May June July August September October November December

20. Business. The crisis could burst the 2.0 bubble. 2.0 services are losing money. Some, like Seesmic, start laying off. January February March April May June July August September October November December

21. Digital policy. Meanwhile, Minister Eric Besson presents a plan for Digital France 2012 - without much resources to back it up. Not everyone is convinced. January February March April May June July August September October November December

22. New opinion leaders. Narvic says it: the blog of lawyer Maître Eolas is the "first media of the second type". His Diary of a Lawyer receives 15,000 visits per day, its anonymous author is invited to top radio and TV shows and is used as a source of information by Le Monde and other respectable media, and wields tremendous power by bringing together France’s "angry judges" like no one before. An unprecedented case of emergence of an opinion leader on the Internet. January February March April May June July August September October November December

23. Netpolitics. He’s the President 2.0: Barack Obama put the web to good use and built an unprecedented strategy of ambassadors.. Image FlickR Creative Commons. January February March April May June July August September October November December

24. Viral marketing. Technology creates a buzz: 1.5 million web users go to Chabal-le-duel.com to help star rugby player Chabal score a football penalty - a campaign designed by Buzzman for Orange. January February March April May June July August September October November December

25. Buzz. We needed one “blogger buzz" for this retrospective: it’ll be the high-heeled race organised by Sarenza.com, much seen online but also on TV. Image FlickR Creative Commons. January February March April May June July August September October November December

26. Prevention. 2008 is also a year in which concerns are expressed about the risks of the Internet for kids - as an EU "awareness" campaign shows. January February March April May June July August September October November December

27. Trends. “Secret Story” is the most searched term of 2008, according to Yahoo. January February March April May June July August September October November December

28. Media. Google gets copiously attacked at the French press summit. Let’s see what happens next. January February March April May June July August September October November December

29. See you in a year http://internetetopinion.wordpress.com