Every 20 minutes this year, Facebook  users have posted more than 10.2 million comments and sent more than 4.6 million messages.

Democracy U.K. has provided insightful statistics on Facebook activity, and some of these numbers boggle the mind when you contemplate  the technological might needed to handle such volumes. During the average 20-minute period on the site this year, there were:

• 1,000,000 shared links
• 1,323,000 tagged photos
• 1,484,000 event invites sent
• 1,587,000 wall posts
• 1,851,000 status updates
• 1,972,000 friend requests accepted
• 2,716,000 photos uploaded
• 10,208,000 comments posted
• 4,632,000 messages sent

The data also includes changes in people’s relationship statuses, which might qualify as the most noticeable update a person can post on the site. People seem more inclined to announce their availability than disclose when they couple up. Here’s a rundown for 2010 that obviously doesn’t include New Year’s Eve hookups:

• 43,869,800 changed their status to single
• 3,025,791 changed their status to “it’s complicated”
• 28,460,516 changed their status to in a relationship
• 5,974,574 changed their status to engaged
• 36,774,801 changed their status to married

Democracy U.K. also provided a rundown of the best-liked celebrities this year, without qualifying whether these are aggregate — it looks like these numbers are current totals rather than new likes clicked just in 2010. Still, marketers ought to have a field day with the following data:

• 24,712,169 people like Lady Gaga
• 23,729,700 people like Eminem
• 19,575,080 people like Megan Fox
• 19,425,325 people like Vin Diesel
• 18,903,844 people like Rihanna
• 17,229,885 people like Barack Obama
• 17,168,034 people like Bob Marley
• 17,004,850 people like Lil Wayne
• 16,779,874 people like Justin Bieber
• 16,520,790 people like Shakira

How do these statistics compare to your Facebook usage this year? Does the data inspire any marketing resolutions for your new year?

Facebook gameplay had dipped around Christmas but is coming back up. CityVille and four other games from Zynga have been the most popular.
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Pretending to be someone else on Facebook, or anywhere else online, becomes a crime in California as of this Saturday.

The law specifically prohibits impersonating anyone online with the objective of harming, intimidating, threatening or defrauding. Such acts become misdemeanors punishable by a fine up up to $1000 and a year in jail.

The author of the law, California Democratic state Senator Joe Simitian, represents the part of the state where Facebook has its headquarters. An article in the San Jose Mercury News quoted him saying:

As a Silicon Valley legislator, I’m nothing but enthusiastic about technology. But the question is, is the technology used wisely and appropriately? This is one area where some constraint appeared necessary… The goal here really is to try to change behavior…

This new law draws on the same framework used in California’s ban on forging documents.

An early draft of the legislation had upset free speech advocates who worried that that the measure would stifle free speech. So the law effective Saturday qualifies that the person who is impersonated has to be real and credible.

That makes it still legal to have profiles that are obvious parodies or fictional characters.

We’re wondering whether a California law would enable Facebook to prosecute impersonators based outside of the state, or the country for the matter. Presumably the location of the social network’s headquarters is what matters here.

How will this law help social media and Facebook in particular?

Earlier this week, Facebook’s Washington D.C. office asked fans for their take on which political leaders and government agencies best used the site to reach their constituents.

Facebook also asked a few social media experts to offer their take on who used the social media site the most effectively.

The findings: Republicans are quite popular on Facebook. Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan, John Thune, Marco Rubio and Scott Brown made the list of top politicians.

Sarah Palin surprised us—we’ve written about her family’s unfavorable escapades on Facebook, but despite that, more than 2.5 million people have “liked” her page which use (or, more likely someone she pays) communicates directly with supporters.

Many also supported Republican  Justin Amash, from Michigan, who posted an explanation on Facebook of every vote he cast as a member of the Michigan state legislature. “It will be great to see him bring that to Washington, DC,” one voter said.

The social media experts said the Tea Party movement and Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown had a successful social media year. An expert said Brown’s team had a deep understanding of how to engage with supporters “without being cheesy or boring” and used social media “as a way to keep in touch after the handshake” when meeting voters face-to-face.

Users said that Jan Brewer, Republican governor from Arizona, “did a brilliant job of keeping voters up to date on issues and posting relevant supporting information on her positions, and the U.S. Navy had a banner year because of their “use of interactive questions; its social media team’s regular responses to wall comments by users; and photo contests,” according to Facebook.

At least one important Democrat was mentioned: President Barack Obama was cited for his use of Facebook during his election year. One user wrote: “No one has used it better in 2010 than Obama did in 2008.” (Of course, a former co-founder of Facebook, Chris Hughes, helped the President with his online strategy!)

Did you vote in the Facebook poll? Are you surprised at the findings?

Facebook reached the 500 million user mark in July of this year and estimates have the current membership at 550 million.
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With so little of 2010 left, it’s the perfect time for a list of New Years applications that will help you look back and prepare for the next 365 days. You’ll see some personal greeting applications, fun applications that will predict your year, and even a way to keep your resolution in check. Check out our picks, and add any additional favorites of your own in the replies.
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Alas, cyberattackers will continue to focus on Facebook in 2011.

According to AppRiver, Facebook’s popularity makes it appealing to hackers and other cybervillains. Expect to see more of the same phishing and malware in 2011 that hit the social network this year.

While that’s not good news, the bright side is that it could be worse — the consultancy doesn’t say that bigger and nastier viruses are coming. Rather, expect more of the “tried and true methods that have worked in the past.”

However, things that work in the past don’t necessarily continue to do so. People on the social network have gotten pretty good at warning each other about spamware scams and the like.

And not only are they learning to report these things to Facebook, but they’re showing signs that they can spot malware ahead of time and avoid clicking on it. I believe this awareness will grow in 2011.

Trouble is, that will only force the spammers and hackers to become more resourceful and cook up novel schemes that don’t fit any of the patterns we’ve been noticing so far.

Readers, what do you expect to see in security trends on Facebook next year?

Developers, you’ve got an extra month of wiggle room. Facebook has pushed back the deadline for compliance with the improved way of sharing user identification until January 31, 2011.
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Sharing of Facebook content via AddThis grew by about a third over the past year, and the social network remains the leading choice among the more than 300 services supported by the application.
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The results are in: Facebook has culled the five best responses to its request for everyone to share their best moments of 2010 involving the social network.
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