2011 was a year of big news. Political revolutions, natural disasters, astounding innovations, stories of inspiration, hope and loss — all of it was captured and disseminated in real time on Twitter.

The information network came of age in 2011, with more mainstream adoption, a couple of redesigns and new traffic records. What was once a simple stream is now a dynamic site of suggestions, connections and multimedia.

For those of us who rely on Twitter to see and share what’s happening now, the news of the world arrives in little 140-character packets. And when big news breaks, the packets start flying.

For one last time this year, we are sharing the top comments posted on Mashable this week from our community.

In this weekly post, we showcase the best comments on our site posted during the previous seven days. We always keep an eye out for thoughtful comments that engage our community, inspire great conversation, as well as those that simply make us laugh.

Take a look at this week’s top comments on Mashable:

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It has proven to be a monumental banner year for Google. It’s hard to believe that one year ago, things such as Google+ and the now all-familiar +1 button were nonexistent. The company has come far from being just a search engine. For some, it is an office suite, email service, music player, social network, and much, much more. We’re not exaggerating when we write “Google Nails 2011.”

This year, Google underwent some major changes, both internally and externally. Some old faces returned, such as current CEO Larry Page, and some interfaces went away, as we saw when the new Gmail appeared. The company acquired dozens of startups, made some significant environmentally-friendly investments and faced a couple of antitrust issues.

Gerrit Hall is CEO and co-founder of RezScore, a free web application that reads, analyzes and grades resumes instantly to help job seekers write the best resume possible. Connect with Gerrit and RezScore on Facebook and Twitter.

For those of you who don’t know (have you been living under a rock?), Facebook is slowly debuting the Timeline to its 800+ million users. Currently, this update is available for those who opt in, but it’s rolling out to replace the Facebook profile we’ve all come to know, love, and obsessively study.

Much has changed for YouTube since it launched in 2005. But in 2011, we saw Google’s video-sharing service undergo more tweaks, spit out more new features and reach more major milestones than in previous years.

Let’s rewind and reminisce as I highlight key moments in YouTube‘s eventful year that involved a major facelift, eye-popping traffic trends, a barrage of new features, acquisitions and partnerships as well as significant success for advertisers and musicians. Which of these moments has affected your personal experience the most?

Jonathan Ive, designer of Apple’s best products over the past 19 years, has been knighted. Whether you call him Jonathan Ive or Jony, you’ll have to put a “Sir” before it, because now he’s officially a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE), giving him the right to be called Sir Jonathan.

According to the BBC, Sir Jonathan was excited about receiving one of the highest honors in the UK, describing it as “absolutely thrilling,” adding that he was “both humbled and sincerely grateful.”

What are Android users like? Are those who use Google‘s smartphone operating system and its associated gadgetry male or female? What sort of clothes do they wear? Are they married? Do they wear watches?

Get your answers to those questions and lots more in this infographic from the people at Bluestacks, makers of an app player that lets users run Android apps on Windows PCs.

To find this typical Android user, they put together a seamless and whimsical illustration, encompassing data gathered from their 145,000 Facebook fans, as well as information from Nielsen, all collected between 12/12/11 and 12/19/11.

During a U.S. legislative session that addressed Minnesota’s Health and Human Services Bill, GOP Sen. Gretchen Hoffman (left) tweeted, “Sen Goodwin just called people with mental illness — idiots and imbeciles — while debating HHS bill.” In actuality, Democrat Sen. Barb Goodwin (right) had alluded to the fact that the first psychiatric hospitals were called “institutions for idiots, imbeciles and the insane.” When Goodwin heard about the the misrepresented accusation, she stood and protested on the Senate floor.

Jimmy Fallon’s first app offered a range of spoof functions, such as one that simply tells you whether you’re in Moldova. His second, which launched last week, actually serves a practical purpose. It wakes you up.

The alarm app launches a fake phone call from Jimmy Fallon at the time you set. If you’re a diehard Jimmy Fallon fan, it’s worth downloading. If not, save your $.99 and download another alarm clock app. Our favorite is Wake N Shake, which makes you shake your phone for a good 30 seconds to shut it off.

Seems like every year, there’s a new high-tech addition to the ball-dropping ritual in New York’s Times Square. Always on the lookout for the latest technology, our editor-in-chief and cartoonist Lance Ulanoff might have discovered yet another innovation: Here’s an efficient way to keep people’s heads from being buried in their smartphones as they participate in tonight’s gigantic New Year’s Eve street party, which is expected to be attended by more than 1 million people.

From all of us at Mashable, Happy New Year, everyone!

Just two months after Samsung released its Galaxy Note tablet-phone, the company announced it has shipped more than one million units of the device worldwide and that it’s coming to the U.S. in the near future.

In October, Samsung unveiled its 5.3-inch, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) smartphone, which doubles as a tablet. It also comes with a stylus pen for drawing and note taking.

It’s expected to receive an upgrade to Android 4 or Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012.

Samsung noted in a press release that sales of Galaxy Note are on the rise in Europe and Asia, particularly in France, Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The first iPhone was actually dreamed up in 1983. Forget that silly old touchscreen, this iPhone was a landline with full, all-white handset and a built-in screen controlled with a stylus.

The phone was designed for Apple by Hartmut Esslinger, an influential designer who helped make the Apple IIc computer (Apple’s first “portable” computer) and later founded Frogdesign. The 1983 iPhone certainly fits in with Esslinger’s other designs for Apple. It also foreshadows the touchscreens of both the iPhone and iPad.

You could call it the year of humility; 2011 saw its share of epic shakeups in the technology world, but it also saw an unprecedented number of them shake right back and go away almost as soon as they happened. From Verizon to HP to Netflix, the biggest names in tech made big decisions that were ultimately — and often almost immediately — reversed.

You can thank social media for playing a large part in the speedy course changes. With Twitter and Facebook leading the charge, negative reaction to a public decision now skips the murmur phase and goes straight to ear-splitting viral roar. Comments on web pages, blog posts and bad press all combine to create a torrent of indignation that few companies can endure.

SOPA Track is a new website that lets you find out where your elected officials stand on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). The tool also provides contact information and links to the social media profiles of all officials who are active on a major social network, such as Facebook or Twitter.

Users of the website can look up elected officials by state or get more focused results by using a street address. After searching, the site displays a list of your Congresspeople in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Curious which Mashable stories topped the charts this year? We’re here to share our 10 biggest stories of 2011, all thanks to our readers!

We calculated the numbers for our top stories based on unique visitors. While we can’t share exact numbers, we assure you that the stats astounded us. Just take a look at the Mashable Follow share count on each page, and you’ll see what we mean.

So, which stories reigned supreme? Well, Google appeared in four out of the 10 articles. Go figure. And of course, tech and social media giants Apple and Facebook made the cut. Take a gander through our gallery to make sure you’re up to speed on Mashable‘s most-viewed stories of the year.

At any conference, product launch or other event where the top tier of tech reporters gather, Noah Kravitz is easy to pick out of a crowd. He’s the affable guy with glasses, earring and a cue-ball head; a supersmart cellphone-loving thirtysomething with a finely tuned sense of the absurd.

Online, Kravitz often goes by the handle “Kravy Krav,” an homage to hip-hop legend Flavor Flav. KravyKrav was also the name of his very first (and now inactive) Twitter account. And if that had been the only Twitter name Kravitz ever went by, he wouldn’t have made news this week.

Ronald Brown is a successful startup CEO with an extensive background in technology and consumer marketing. His new book, Anticipate. The Architecture of Small Team Innovation and Product Success is available via iTunes, Amazon, Barnes Noble, and Kobo.

The subject of finding customers is one of the most mysterious in business development. I’m often asked how the most successful companies do it, maybe in the hope that there’s a secret or shortcut to success. Sorry to say, no silver bullet exists.

Police in Vermont recently arrested a man for stealing a $3,200 engagement ring. They were tipped off after the man’s fiancee posted a picture of the ring on Facebook.

Social media has become a legitimate tool for crime-solving. Earlier this year, the NYPD used Twitter to shut down a gang meeting, and the FBI used social media to track down a wanted fugitive.

Check out the video above to learn more about the stolen engagement ring.

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: V.I.K.T.O.R.

Quick Pitch: V.I.K.T.O.R. is an automatic video-editing app.

Genius Idea: The free iPhone app makes movie making and sharing mobile clips quick and easy.

Built-in cameras on smartphone and tablet devices make it easy to record videos of experiences anywhere we go. But how often do we go back to watch these videos or share them?

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