Webby Awards’ Top 10 most influential internet moment of the decade
Posted on November 19th, 2009
The Webby Awards is an annual award which was started in 1996. It is aimed to recognize and reward excellence on the internet in a number of categories including news and other websites, interactive advertising and online film and video.
The awardees are chosen by a 650-member academy, with members including one of the internet’s inventor, Vint Cerf, as well as Simpson’s creator Matt Groening and media magnate Martha Stewart.
Executive director of the Webby Awards, David-Michel Davies, said “The Internet is the story of the decade because it was the catalyst for change in not just every aspect of our everyday lives, but in everything from commerce and communication to politics and pop culture.”
“The recurring theme among all of the milestones on our list is the Internet’s capacity to circumvent old systems and put more into the hands of ordinary people,” he added.
The Webby Awards list of the 10 most most influential Internet moments of the decade are:
- Craigslist online classified site expands outside San Francisco in 2000
- the launch of Google AdWords in 2000
- the launch of online encyclopedia Wikipedia in 2001
- the shutdown of file-sharing site Napster in 2001
- the initial public offering of Google in 2004
- the online video revolution led by YouTube in 2006
- the opening of Facebook to non-college students and Twitter launches in 2006
- the birth of Apple’s iPhone in 2007
- the use of the Internet in the US presidential campaign 2008 which transformed every aspect campaigns are fought
- the use of Twitter during the Iranian election protests in 2009
The 14th annual Webby Awards are to be announced in April 2010.
