Facebook was big in 2009. 350-million-users-big. More-popular-at-Xmas-than-Google-big. Not all the news has been good news though. There was that lengthy catfight with privacy campaigners, for instance. Not to mention the lingering and deeply suspicious obsession with fish.

So which Facebook issues will be filling our Tweetfeeds in the coming weeks and months? Here are some faintly plausible suggestions.

More upset over privacy

The question of data security has long been a thorn in the social networking giant's side, prone to seasonal flare-ups as new loopholes are hacked open by stealth marketers and conscientious users alike. Last February, one such user discovered that he could access other members' email addresses by way of a friend-finding feature (the "glitch" was fixed swiftly); only this week, blogger Max Klein managed to crack open a bunch of personal profiles by loading the requisite emails into Facebook as a CSV file. In December the company revised its privacy settings, forcing users to display friends lists and profile pics to the world at large, and strongly encouraging them to do likewise with other information. The internet promptly went supernova, with Gawker terming this "Facebook's Great Betrayal".

Leaving aside the inevitable unforeseen exploits, Zuckerberg and co are in a bit of a double-bind here. On the one hand, the more personal info users give away the more attractive the service is to search engines, and the more page impressions Facebook will receive. On the other, making somebody's saucy cleavage shots and workplace details available to John S. Data-Miner isn't the best way to ensure their continued patronage. Expect a lot more gnashing and wailing on this front before the year is out.

More use of Facebook for political or legal ends

Facebook's ubiquity and open-handed approach to data has one definite upside: the cybernaut wings of the world's criminal investigation agencies have another string to their bow. Scarcely a day goes by without Google Alerts wiring us another handful of Facebook-assisted case closures, and we can't see the stream drying up soon.

Facebook has also served, and will probably continue to serve, as a podium and rallying point for disenfranchised groups. Good news for all those people in Iran who aren't keen on getting bludgeoned by corrupt theocrats, but also good news, unfortunately, for people who think the Holocaust didn't happen, or for people who escaped from Hollesley Bay Prison and insist on telling us about it. Nobody cares what you did for Christmas, you cutpurse. Go away.

Number of Facebook mobile users to rise

Apple broke down the door to constant, comprehensive thorough-put between mobile phones and internet-based services when it launched the iPhone. The smartphone industry at large is now fighting for space in the hallway, with Microsoft's Zune and (latterly) Google's Nexus One not far behind. As phones become ever more sophisticated, and manufacturers' server-side offerings ever more robust, you can expect the 65 million people Poking on the go to double, even triple. We're sure a "FacePhone" will be on the cards eventually (though the company's bottom line probably needs to put some weight on first).

Zynga to publish another "-ville" Facebook game

Consider this list of recently registered Zynga trademarks handily swiped by our distant cousins at Games.com. There's a definite theme, isn't there? We suspect a fair few of the purchases are pre-emptive "land grabs" to deter sneaky imitations, but when you consider the success Zynga has wrought with FarmVille, PetVille, FishVille and YoVille, it's hard to see the suffix going out of fashion soon. TheatreVille, anyone? TaxidermyVille? StockBrokerVille, perhaps? We could go on all year, and we're sure Zynga plans to.

Say again? Well of course there are some possibilities we've missed, you silly melon. We're not an RSS feed. Let us know what's what in the comments thread.