Today’s breakfast had a great crowd, which was fantastic because we crowd-sourced our topic! To kick off the year, we decided to ask Expeditioners for their Predictions for 2011 in social media and technology. It seems many of the members are placing their bets on QR codes and mobile devices. Of course it’s all speculation, but it’s fun. We know the Next Big Thing could come from a completely unpredictable source, but here are a few of the developments we’re looking forward to…

2010 saw mass migration to social media, but 2011 could be a different story. Expeditioner Lorrie predicts that the rate of new adopters will drop in 2011, but that previous adopters will get even more savvy, increasing the quality of their engagement and conversations.

Mary anticipates that (like we did with our topic today) more brands will crowd-source ideas, and then award those who contribute. They won’t have to send out surveys or call for customer feedback, they can just ask for suggestions on their Facebook page. Doritos, Pepsi, Dominoes, and Starbucks are already experimenting with crowd-sourcing their product advertising, and we’re thinking it’s about to boom.

Then, Aaron thinks 2011 will see the rise of mobile. The Verizon iPhone, affordable Android phones, the new iPad, and new tablets will put mobile devices in more hands than ever.

Ansley’s prediction goes hand-in-hand with the popularity of mobile – the decline of the app. In 2010, there was “an app for that.” In 2011, we’re likely to see “a mobile site for that,” where brands turn to HTML5 to create a beautiful, interactive, touch-screen compatible site instead of spending time on a stand-alone application.

Tim thinks there will be no white iPhone in 2011. Joe says Google will dominate the world. Or at least dominate the cloud with their new operating system, Chrome OS. It’s in beta now, but this OS stores all your data from photos to music to documents online (in “the cloud”), so you can access them from anywhere.

On a serious note, net neutrality will become a major issue. It will also be the topic of one of our upcoming breakfasts. We will begin to explore what it means for the Internet to be a truly global community, and we will face censorship conflicts. Privacy will deteriorate even further as what walled gardens are left become translucent, and (we believe) people will continue to share online despite the risks.

Most Expeditioners peg 2011 as “The Year of the QR Code.” These (so far) under-utilized bar codes could be everywhere pretty soon, as more people have the smartphones to read them. Make your own QR code with BeQRious or ScanLife, or with a URL shortener like Goo.gl, Bit.ly, or Budurl. Then, get an app on your smartphone to read them! The ScanLife app is good one.

Once we’ve got all these QR codes, and people are scanning everything, we’re also likely to see a rise in push notifications for coupons. Someday soon, your phone may know you’re on the grocery store aisle with the tomato sauce, and send you a coupon! Read up on this new trend on Dave’s blog.

A few other resources (not really predictions, per se) that were mentioned during the breakfast:

• Quora – a Question/Answer site that hasn’t been loaded up with a lot of junk (like Yahoo Answers).
• New Facebook Messages – Get the new Facebook messaging system that will integrate your texts and email.

Our final predictions come from Dave, who anticipates a rise in apps geared towards cutting down on technological distractions. For instance, there could be an app to collect your new message notifications and consolidate them into a single digest that comes to you ever hour, or every five. More vitally, perhaps we’ll see better apps to cut down on texting while driving, an issue AT&T takes up in a compelling ad. Find more of Dave’s predictions here.

Don’t forget about Twilight Camp on the 20th. Plus, get ready for the 48 Hour Launch – a great chance for any entrepreneurs and skilled collaborators to give life to the Next Big Idea!

Today we’re talking about snow days – Elizabeth apparently got out of school for rain once.

"Snow Elvis Statue" by mrbrent62 on Flickr

We’re also talking about something you might do during your day off – the Facebook’s Community Council – helping to police for offensive content on Facebook through crowdsourcing.

You might also want to drink something warm, like coffee – and Google’s new Caffeine search engine algorithm may or may not be released, but it’s certainly going to affect the way social activity reflects in your search engine rankings.

But what’s kind of lame about snow days is that they make it difficult to get out and mingle with friends – say, at tweetups like the one we had Tuesday at South of Beale, welcoming Jeremiah Owyang to Memphis for a brief stay, or to our Social Expedition Breakfasts, like the one Wednesday, where Eric Mathews presented.

Rather than drive to events like that in snowy weather, it might be safer to just call a good friend. Thom Rigsby, for example, joined us on the phone from Huntsville, Ala., where he lives and works as a blogger and social media strategist.

We talked with him about the importance of getting out and meeting people in meatspace, and what he thinks 2010 will bring to the social sphere.

Don’t forget that the Core Conversation call-in podcast will start back up on Friday – We’ll be talking about the rise of the Mobile Web.

You can download the podcast, listen by clicking the player below, or subscribe in iTunes by clicking on the logo below.

It’s that time of the year where we dust off our latent soothsaying skills and make predictions about the coming trip around the sun. We’ll be eyeing the future ourselves and hope you’ll join us.

If you can’t call in, we’ll be conducting the conversation simultaneously on Twitter. We hope you’ll join us!

Changes to Facebook’s Publisher

Facebook is changing the way their ‘publisher’  works – that’s the section of your home page where you change your status message and upload photos and video to your wall – but they’re only changing it slightly.

They’re offering you a great deal more control over who sees what you post. on your publisher, there will be a little lock button, that, when clicked on, will ask you the question “who do you want to tell?” This will give you the option to let only your family see the baby pictures you’re uploading – and only your friends to read the comment ab0ut their party last night.

Expect to see some accidentally public posts that were meant to be private as people get used to the new control they have over their announcements.

Changes to Facebook’s Name Display

One of our staff members recently got married. Both he and his wife decided to hyphenate their names. This raises a somewhat silly question: what happens to their Facebook profiles when their names change? Our colleague and his wife went ahead and just changed their names on their profiles.

The thing is, people aren’t used to new husbands changing their names. Even though his “Bachelor name” is still part of his last name, some old friends have asked to make sure they were friending the right person before approving.

Facebook has announced on their blog a new way around his problem – and the problem of many immigrants, wives who took their husbands’ names, and people who go by less intuitive nickames – if you go into your profile’s account options, you’ve been able for some time to add an alternate name, so that people looking for you can still find you in a search. What’s new is that Facebook is granting the option to display that alternate name alongside your real name in your profile.

So, while a search for “Reginald Dwight” would have always turned up “Elton John,” Elton’s name in his profile can now read “Elton John (Reginald Dwight).”