And the top Twitter trends of 2010 are...

From earthquakes and politics to popstars and hashtags, Twitter Trends are a window into what the world is talking about. In #Hindsight2010, Twitter yesterday offered a window to its list of the biggest trends of 2010.

The site that has made a fortune out of 140 characters or less analysed the 25 billion tweets sent in 2010 and published the list of top overall trends of the year, as well as the top 10 trending topics in eight categories: news events, people, movies, television, technology, World Cup, sports and hashtags.

The site says that the list of 2010 Twitter Trends reflects what’s happening in our world, demonstrates the power of turning any event or story into a shared experience, and underscores Twitter’s value as a real-time information network. Indeed, Twitter’s top 10 overall trends paint a clear picture of what we were interested in 2010.

The Gulf oil spill and the Haiti earthquake were definitely among the biggest news stories of the year. The FIFA World Cup, the accompanying vuvuzelas, and the psychic octopus Paul captured the attention of almost the entire world for a couple of months, and iPad and Android were constantly generating buzz in the world of technology.

The rest, as one might expect, is entertainment: Christopher Nolan’s hit movie Inception, the teen sensation Justin Bieber, and the omnipresent Harry Potter. Here’s the full top 10 list:

Top 10 Twitter Trends of 2010

1. Gulf Oil Spill

2. FIFA World Cup

3. Inception

4. Haiti Earthquake

5. Vuvuzela

6. Apple iPad

7. Google Android

8. Justin Bieber

9. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

10. Pulpo Paul

Section-wise

NEWS EVENTS

1. Gulf Oil Spill

2. Haiti Earthquake

3. Pakistan Floods

4. Koreas Conflict

5. Chilean Miners Rescue

6. Chavez Tas Ponchao

7. Wikileaks Cablegate

8. Hurricane Earl

9. Prince Williams Engagement

10. World Aids Day

PEOPLE

1. Justin Bieber

2. Dilma Rouseff

3. Lady Gaga

4. Julian Assange

5. Mel Gibson

6. Lil Kim

7. Zilda Arns

8. Kate Middleton

9. Kim Hee Chul

10. Joannie Rochette

MOVIES

1. Inception

2. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

4. Despicable Me

5. Karate Kid

6. The Last Airbender

7. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

8. The Expendables

9. The Chronicles of Narnia

10. Paranormal Activity 2

TELEVISION

1. MTV Video Music Awards

2. Pretty Little Liars

3. True Blood

4. Walking Dead

5. Grammy Awards

6. Glee

7. Family Guy

8. CSI

9. MTV Movie Awards

10. American Music Awards

TECHNOLOGY

1. Apple iPad

2. Google Android

3. Apple iOS

4. Apple iPhone

5. Call of Duty Black Ops

6. New Twitter

7. HTC

8. RockMelt

9. MacBook Air

10. Google Instant

WORLD CUP

1. FIFA World Cup

2. Vuvuzela

3. Pulpo Paul

4. Dunga

5. Diego Maradona

6. Cristiano Ronaldo

7. Cala Boca Galvao

8. Lionel Messi

9. Oranje

10. Felipe Melo

SPORTS

1. Lebron James

2. Wimbledon

3. Manchester United

4. Brock Lesnar

5. Celtics

6. Brett Favre

7. Tony Parker

8. Antonio Margarito

9. Blake Griffin

10. Mike Vick

HASHTAGS

1. #rememberwhen

2. #slapyourself

3. #confessiontime

4. #thingsimiss

5. #ohjustlikeme

6. #wheniwaslittle

7. #haveuever

8. #icantlivewithout

9. #thankful

10. #2010disappointments