Top 5 Web 2.0 Newcomers of 2010

In 2010 there was A LOT of new web 2.0 startups popping up just about every day of the week. Many were social driven, others tech, and others were built on top of applications developed by industry giants. Here's a look at some the most promising new comers of the year.

Quora

In a big year for Q&A services, Quora was king. After a rampant launch Quora caught the attention of tech enthusiast and those in the startup scene. CEO's, angel investors, programmers, and lot's of people you've never heard of started using Quora. The community took a bet that people want to help other people by answering questions. Most importantly, Quora built itself up as a social networking platform. It's more than just a place to find answers, it's a place to find answers from your friends, coworkers, and a couple of big shot entrepreneurs. Others like Sprouter and the more informal formspring.me did well, but Quora led the pack

Instagram

To call Instagram anything other than amazing would be laughable. The web 2.0 iPhone app that nobody saw coming won people over big time in 2010. Instagram is a simple photo editing app, with a built in social layer. Snap a photo, edit it, and then send it to your friends. Check out what pictures your friends took. It makes anybody appear to be a great photographer. Genius application.

RockMelt

I've blogged about it here before, but it needs to be said again: RockMelt is amazing. It's a new social browser built on Google Chrome that integrates Facebook and other applications. Share websites and get updates from your favorite places on the web. Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer may own the browser market, but let's hope there is room for RockMelt. It's the best attempt of integrating social networking into a browser.

Flipboard

Don't worry if you've yet to try it, someday you probably will. Flipboard is an iPad application that took off this year. Flipboard takes the content of your iPad and turns it into a magazine. If the iPad is the future of media consumption (bold statement I know) than Flipboard will help it get there. It's apps like this that unlock the potential behind tablet technology. Hold it in your hand like a newspaper or magazine and read it like a newspaper or a magazine.

Diaspora

At the time of this publishing Diaspora remains a bit under the covers still, but from someone who has tried it and see's the potential Diaspora just might have what it takes. The Facebook competitor won't take out Facebook nor really challenge it in terms of popularity, but credit needs to be given to the young students who developed it. It's clean, functional and will only grow. In a year of innovative web 2.0 newcomers, Diaspora must be mentioned.