Congrats! You are Time's Person of the Year

All internet users crowned for 'founding and framing the new digital democracy'

Last Updated: Sunday, December 17, 2006 | 3:31 PM ET

CBC Arts

Give yourself a pat on the back: you've been selected as Time magazine's "Person of the Year" — along with everyone else who uses the internet.

'It's about the many wresting power from the few.'-Lev Grossman, Time's technology writer

For the 2006 version of the renowned annual list, the publication decided not to choose a single person, instead crowning all internet users.

The issue hits newsstands on Monday. It carries a cover showing a white keyboard with a mirror for a computer screen, so readers can see their own reflections.

The American weekly praised the public for "founding and framing the new digital democracy."

"We felt there wasn't a single person who embodied this phenomenon," said the magazine's managing editor, Richard Stengel.

Video-sharing, user-generated content

The editors said they were impressed by the explosive growth of video-sharing sites and user-generated content — specifically, the video-sharing site YouTube, which gets about 100 million daily views, and the social networking site MySpace, with more than 130 million users around the world.

In fact, the magazine named YouTube the "invention of the year" in November.

"It's about the many wresting power from the few," wrote Lev Grossman, Time's technology writer.

'[The internet is] a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter.'-Lev Grossman

Grossman also pointed out that blogs are "often more immediate and authentic than traditional media."

Time began the tradition in 1927, with the purpose of highlighting the person or people who most affected the news, whether good or bad, and personified "what was important about the year, for better or for worse."

Kim Jong Il, Bush make secondary list

It wasn't the first time the magazine strayed from naming individuals. In 1966, the under-25 generation was honoured and in 1982, the computer was given that distinction.

A Time writer praised blogs, saying they were often 'more immediate and authentic than traditional media.'
(Canadian Press)

The article does cite some 26 "People Who Mattered" including Pope Benedict XVI, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the U.S. bipartisan Iraq Study Group, U.S. President George W. Bush and his vice-president, Dick Cheney.

The magazine has not shied away from unpopular choices in the past, choosing Adolf Hitler in 1938 and Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.

Stengel admitted that, if the magazine was forced to choose one person for 2006, it would have been Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has taunted the West with his country's nuclear capabilities and denied the Holocaust.

"It just felt a little off selecting him," noted Stengel.

Last year's winners were the troika of U2 frontman Bono and Bill and Melinda Gates and in 2004, Bush graced the cover.

Meanwhile, Time's Canadian edition named Prime Minister Stephen Harper Canadian Newsmaker of the Year. The magazine's editors predicted Harper "may yet turn out to be the most transformational leader since Trudeau" if he wins the next federal election.

The Newsmaker is defined as the person, place, group, or thing that has the most impact on the news in Canada.