This was a breakout year in the world of social media, ranging from new people to new companies to new technologies and plenty of new ideas for companies that finally jumped into the social media arena this year.

This was also a banner year for research reports about the impact of social media on global businesses and economies. It’s always tricky to rectify the data from report to report, but I’d rather have too much information to sort through to make decisions than too little like some previous years.

With that in mind, here are the studies and reports I found to be the most insightful this year and that I keep close at hand for reference with clients and colleagues:

• Razorfish: FEED: Consumer Experience Report: This study focuses on understanding how technology impacts today’s digital consumer experience.
• Technorati: State of the Blogosphere 2008: The long time industry standard, this year’s report analyzed trends and themes of blogging and surveyed bloggers about how blogging has impacted them personally, professionally, and financially.
• Universal McCann: Power to the People Wave Report 3: This excellent study measured consumer usage, attitudes and interests in adopting social media platforms and technologies.
• Forrester Research: How to Connect with Bloggers: This paid report helps brands understand bloggers and their motivations before kicking off outreach programs.
• MarketTools Insight: How Americans are Socially Connected on the Web. This report covered the link between socially networked consumers and purchasing decisions.

Those are just a few of my favorites this year. Let me know if you have any others you thought were particularly good this year.

Mike Spataro