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'People of the year' get online
Time magazine has unveiled its 'Person of the Year' award, which this year goes to you, me and everyone.The famed US magazine has decided that the winner of this year's award is, quite simply, 'you', because of the breakneck pace of change that is being witnessed through online communities.
Websites such as YouTube and MySpace have offered a new way to access and use the internet, but Time believes that the average internet user is truly responsible for how these sites have taken off and grown into genuine online communities.
"It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace," Time correspondent Lev Grossman wrote.
"It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes," she added.
It is also, importantly for those who enjoy the rich benefits of free use of these sites, a hugely promising business area, with both YouTube and MySpace very highly valued for their potential for internet advertising.
Online marketing took a significant step forward with viral advertising – where internet users forward adverts purely because they are entertaining or shocking – but the possibilities for reaching out to ready-made communities and interest groups are even larger.
Online Advertising news posted on 18 December 2006
