BlueOregon named TIME's "Person of the Year"
That's right. Sort of.
You see, TIME magazine has just named all of us as the most influential "person" of the year. Every single one of us.
From TIME:
But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. ...The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution. ...
Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?
The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.
So, dive in. If you haven't commented here or written a guest column, start now. If you've been thinking of starting your own blog -- do it tonight.
Discuss.
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Dec. 17, 2006
Posted in in the news 2006. |
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2:51 p.m.
Dec 17, '06
Me? I don't even have a pet iguana and if I did, he'd be sleeping on a hotpad cursing the luck that he was living in Oregon instead of on the beach with Evangeline Lilly in the sun.
I hope someone bought a drink for the intern that came up with this genius idea.
Dec 17, '06
Personally I think this shows how very sad the state of the media is right now. Any of the big time's Democrats who orchestrated the take over of government would have done (remember, in 2004 Dubya was the Time person of the year). Or how about a Nobel Prize winner? Hell, even an athlete with a great charity track record. But the blogoshpere? Gimme a break.
Dec 17, '06
i like it. i hope their humble admission that they've been bested by amateurs means that time magazine will stop hurling globs of conventional wisdom at us and calling it news. i hope newsweek, the washington post, and slate change that habit, too.
Dec 17, '06
Anthony: you mistake the title for an award. It's not for the "greatest" person or anything like that. It's for the person who most influenced the news in the past year. A Nobel prize winner or athlete probably wouldn't qualify. (Remeber, in 1938, Hitler was the Person of the Year.)
It's not an honor, even though it is often mistaken to be so, it's just a note about current events.
2:22 a.m.
Dec 18, '06
But the blogoshpere? Gimme a break.
Nope, not the blogosphere. That's just a little bit of it. It's also user-created video, and social networking sites, and more...
Speaking of which, here's a question:
Should there be a BlueOregon social networking site? NOT as part of some other site (like MySpace or Facebook), but rather a social networking site for Oregon progressives - that would encourage us to build an extensive network of friends, neighbors, and colleagues.... and empower all of us to motivate each other to action?
If I built it, would you come?
Dec 18, '06
I think Time hit on something valid. The Inernet has been invaluable to me in researching the facts that expose the endless stream of lies coming from the Bush regime, lies that received scant coverage, if any, in the MSM, lies that may have received no coverage at all had they not first been exposed and circulated online. And as a blogger, I think I deserved it. ;-)
Kari, I'd certainly take a look.
Dec 18, '06
Kudos for BlueOregon, the best progressive platform for a free flow of good progressive ideas, as well as a place conservatives can contribute to the debate as they have a way to promote their ideas in a sincere way.
A big thank you to Kari, and Jesse!!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
9:27 a.m.
Dec 18, '06
Should there be a BlueOregon social networking site? NOT as part of some other site (like MySpace or Facebook), but rather a social networking site for Oregon progressives - that would encourage us to build an extensive network of friends, neighbors, and colleagues.... and empower all of us to motivate each other to action?
If I built it, would you come?
Kari--I'm already on it.
Email me for details.
10:37 a.m.
Dec 18, '06
Talking to my neighbor Bill about this very topic yesterday.
I told him that among news sources, the Oregonian comes in fourth after Huffpost, Salon, and Blue Oregon.
Bill argued that less than half of the nation goes online regularly and that of people who are online, a very small percentage use the Internet for news acquisition, so where's the big sea change?
Answer: When I read news and columns in the various media outlets ten or fifteen years back, it was sometimes difficult or impossible to judge whether the authors had omitted key facts that I might find relevant or even central to the story.
These days, every columnist is looking over their shoulders at the unwashed horde of the blogosphere, U-Tube, etcetera with every word they write.
The "Pros" may resent us, but our presence acts as a check on their every utterance.......
Dec 18, '06
Kind of a cop-out for Time, no?
EDITOR: "Hey, did anyone ever choose who should be Person Of the Year?" SCOOP: "Gee, chief -- that was Smitty's assignment!" EDITOR: "Aw, nuts to the both of ya bums! Say, what can we do really quickly that will make it seem like we put some thought into this?" STAFF: "Gee chief, why don't we just say that everyone is person of the year?" EDITOR: "... That's so crazy it just might work!" STAFF: "Chief... I was kidding." EDITOR: "Nonsense! Supposing we do a cover story on this 'everyone' character! Get out there and get me that story -- does he put jam on his toast, or doesn't he put jam on his toast... and if not, why not? and for how long?"
It's cover stories like this that make me think that the news magazine business must be run like some kind of 1940's Howard Hawks movie.
10:48 a.m.
Dec 19, '06
Archie... Yeah, a bit of a cop-out, but Time Magazine is basically admitting that big media is dead. It's an acknowledgement that the internet gives the audience the ability to create its own media - which means that everyone now has freedom of speech on a global scale.
I think we should all still worry about corporate consolidation in the TV business, the radio business, the newspaper business... but that all seems much less scary now in the age of YouTube, podcasting, and blogs.
Everyone now has a voice, and while it's true that millions of dollars in marketing muscle can amplify that voice -- so can a simple idea produced by one person at home, whether it's the latest funny video on YouTube or a brilliant idea on a blog.
In 2000, John McCain proved that a website could raise a bunch of money - a million bucks in 48 hours. In 2004, Howard Dean proved that a web strategy could create a lot of buzz and raise even more money - some 60 million bucks.
The big question of 2008 will be: Who will make the best use of netroots tools to organize people, create buzz, move primary voters, and - oh yeah - raise a ton of money?
11:29 a.m.
Dec 19, '06
HOORAY!!
Finally, I am out from under the control of multinational media conglomerates! I am my own news filter, and can decide things for myself without the help of some big, faceless corporation! It's a revolution!!!
How do I know this? Why, the 2nd largest multinational media conglomerate in the world just told me so! Thank goodness the cable news outlet of a media conglomerate told me about the "person of the year" award...given out by the newsmagazine outlet of the same media conglomerate!
Yes, I certainly feel empowered now. Are we out of Iraq yet?
Dec 24, '06