[iBercovich]

With the massive amount of relational data being created in social networks, there is a huge opportunity in the field of analytics. This particular min-study shows trends in happiness vs relationship status, which could be used for a dating site/app spin-off. In a similar manner, analytics can be used to improve media consumption (video, sound, image, text)-- content aggregation is no longer feasible because too much information is being created everyday, so we must find a way to reduce SNR and provide the user with what he/she needs to see.

I am really excited to see many analytics-oriented startups in 2010.

-Ivan

[contagionhealth]

Agreed. I would recommend friends pursuing an MBA go for a masters degree or PhD in behavioral economics instead. In addition, I'd like to see more analytics oriented around the individual's own delta - how many times did they switch from "complicated" to a relationship in a 5 year period? How many friends did they add? How many people did they block? A more realistic measure of personal happiness might be obtained by more robust analysis of how a person's self reporting changes over time, rather than a static snapshot of how they report at a simple point compared with how many other people report that same thing in stasis.