Bloggers as TIME's

November 16, 2004 11:15 AM

Bloggers as TIME's "People of the Year" ?" Each year around this time going all the way back to 1927 the editors of TIME magazine sit down to debate and select their Person or People of the Year. Last year, if you recall, they selected the American soldier. In prior years they have selected everyone from Charles Lindbergh (1927) to The Computer (1982)... The Person of the Year is defined as folllows: "Person of the Year is an annual issue of TIME magazine that features a profile on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year" Why not bloggers? Steve Rubel thinks so.
posted by azul (33 comments total)

Let's just hope they don't use the blogger.com logo (like the proposed cover does). Wordpress all the way baby!

The Citizen Journalist award is much better deisgned and a much better idea.
posted by zelphi at 11:22 AM on November 16, 2004

Bloggers, who happen to be the spawn of self-important web designers, also happen to place a ridiculous self-importance upon themselves in comparision to the rest of the world.
posted by Stan Chin at 11:24 AM on November 16, 2004

What is this TIME magazine and why does its opinion matter so???

(I don't think this is such a great idea).
posted by plep at 11:25 AM on November 16, 2004

The overwhelming majority of the outside world still has no idea what a blog or a blogger is. So, I don't think the impact warrants Person Of The Year status.
posted by jonmc at 11:26 AM on November 16, 2004

agreed stan chin. Bloggers are only imporant to themselves.
posted by bob sarabia at 11:26 AM on November 16, 2004

... and even hinting at an award such as this would make the self-congratulation even more unbearable...
posted by plep at 11:29 AM on November 16, 2004

1. This is just silly. "Honoring" the bloggers would be like honoring The Apprentice- being trendy and widely-discussed doesn't make it the significant figure of the year. Considering that the main achievements of Guys With Websites this year was being really vocal and being really incorrect about stuff for huge amounts of time, it's like suggesting Matt Drudge should have been POTY when the Lewinsky scandal broke. Bloggers, if anything, facilitated relevant events- they weren't relevant events in themselves.

2. Because there's nothing we need more than blogs like Instapundit and PowerLine to feel even more awesome about themselves.

3. It was an election year. By historical default, it's 90% likely to go to Bush again.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 11:32 AM on November 16, 2004

XQUZYPHYR nailed it in 1.
posted by dabitch at 11:40 AM on November 16, 2004

Hey, I was blogging back in the last century, and I have yet to influence anything about anything (and I'd thought my recent expose would've brought Citibank to its knees, but all I got were GoogleAds for Citibank). But as for you, Mr. Crimson Stan Chin, GET YOUR OWN BLOG (back). Really. I need another source to steal from.
posted by wendell at 12:16 PM on November 16, 2004

Bloggers, who happen to be the spawn of self-important web designers, also happen to place a ridiculous self-importance upon themselves in comparision to the rest of the world.

Truer words were never spoken.
posted by kjh at 12:19 PM on November 16, 2004

"Honoring" the bloggers would be like honoring The Apprentice

Lileks, you're fired. Zeldman still has exemption.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:32 PM on November 16, 2004

i am blogger, hear me bore...

*staggers out of room, cackling maniacally*
posted by quonsar at 12:39 PM on November 16, 2004

I blog therefore I bore?

To blog is to bore?

I used to bore people in real life, now I just bore people searching the web for pics of Britney Spears' tits.

Damnit, I hate you, quonsar. And by hate, I mean I would drink your bathwater.
posted by fenriq at 12:45 PM on November 16, 2004

3. It was an election year. By historical default, it's 90% likely to go to Bush again.

Well, he did say "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year." The worse part has Leader written all over it.
posted by terrapin at 1:01 PM on November 16, 2004

Well it was a blogger who first posted a pic of Cheney and his massive jernt. That should automatically qualify bloggers as people of the year, right? Right?

::::crickets:::::
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 1:30 PM on November 16, 2004

For what its worth, the totally unscientific poll on iWon today is about bloggers affecting the election and 48% of respondents didn't check any blogs at all going into the election.

16% said "Blogs? Are those anything like Legos?"

terrapin, yeah, you'd think Person of the Year would have to positively affect change, not just change for change's sake.
posted by fenriq at 2:24 PM on November 16, 2004

Well, at the risk of invoking Godwin, if it went down, at least bloggers would finally share something in common with Hitler.
posted by ed at 2:25 PM on November 16, 2004

what's really funny is that I thought that blogging was passe in the last election.
posted by norm at 2:52 PM on November 16, 2004

as a blogger let me say that i disapprove of this idea.

the person of the year is clearly theo epstien and i dont even like the american league.
posted by tsarfan at 2:52 PM on November 16, 2004

Well, according to the official unofficial panel on the subject (who do they think they are? Mr. Wendy?) the leading candidate is the Power Behind the Power, although "The Blogosphere" is (are?) reportedly in contention, but that may just be because ol' Randy Andy Sullivan was on the panel.
posted by wendell at 3:05 PM on November 16, 2004

The puppetmasters should get it!
posted by dabitch at 3:24 PM on November 16, 2004

The overwhelming majority of the outside world still has no idea what a blog or a blogger is.

Isn't that the truth. I just sent an email today to a very savy friend of mine who works for a Fortune 500 company to tell her I just started a blog. Her response? What's a "Blog"?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:25 PM on November 16, 2004

Until my mother knows what a Blog is (and when I tried to play it in Scrabble, she got pretty incredulous, let me tell you) it doesn't count.

Plus, since it's an abbreviation, it doesn't count in Scrabble either. :(

On Preview: Not even spell check knows what a blog is.
posted by hughbot at 4:07 PM on November 16, 2004

The Person of the Year is defined as folllows: "Person of the Year is an annual issue of TIME magazine that features a profile on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year" [emphasis mine]

For me, any credibility they had in naming The * of the Year was lost when they caved to public pressure and failed to name Bin Laden in 2001. They won't regain it unless they tell us what the new real criteria are, since they're obviously not using the criteria they claim to anymore.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:24 PM on November 16, 2004

Can I be Man of the Year? I didn't do anything spectacular, but I would kind of like it anyway.

How do these Man of the Year campaigns start, anyway? Can I have one? If not me, at least Stan Chin. He got me the Sierra Hook-Up.
posted by hughbot at 5:36 PM on November 16, 2004

Apparently Rove is amongst the top choices for Man of the Year. I agree 100% and I think it's funny as a slap to the face of Leader in that the magazine doesn't give him credit for his own election victory.
posted by graventy at 5:46 PM on November 16, 2004

yup--it's definitely TurdBlossom.

(The whole thing is a calculated crock anyway---don't forget about them picking Giuliani over Osama in 01)
posted by amberglow at 7:30 PM on November 16, 2004

oops, sorry --what DevilsAdvocate said. : >
posted by amberglow at 7:31 PM on November 16, 2004

> Well it was a blogger who first posted a pic of Cheney and his massive jernt.

That's more a contender for the Pulizter prize.

I'd love to see Rove win. I can imagine the copy now. "By using datamining and narrowcasting along with tradtional mainstays like playing to the bigotry and hate of the electorate, Mr Rove slapped democracy around like a bitch for the world to see thus ensuring the election of one of the worst world leaders ever."

Its like the advertising awards. Sure, the product may have killed scores of children and was made in a sweatshop, but the ad sold the product.
posted by skallas at 10:57 PM on November 16, 2004

Two words to bring a shudder to one's soul...

Drudge Report
posted by FormlessOne at 8:01 AM on November 17, 2004

and related to Drudge--I think the "Talking Point" should get it.
posted by amberglow at 9:06 AM on November 17, 2004

If Bush's re-election is the event with respect to which the Man of the Year should be chosen, Rove is not the most deserving recipient.

In conception and execution, the Bush re-election strategy was good, but not great. At a macro level, things that worked for Bush were out of his control (9/11, Goodrich, the Swiftvets) while the things that worked against Bush were largely within his control (his debate performance, the Iraq occupation).

The real "People of the Year" should be "Democrats of Iowa": cowardly enough to decide that electability trumped all other virtues, and dumb enough to believe that Kerry was the most electable of the field.
posted by MattD at 1:37 PM on November 17, 2004

Maybe when people (bloggers) stop jumping up and down with excitement at hearing the word 'blog' mentioned on CNN or in the NYT the time will come when the bloggers become the people of the year.

But I doubt it. The growing popularity of blogs seems more a gradual thing that a headline-making explosion.

Cool as it would be.

Going on politics, how about 'The Incognito Republican'? Exit polls showed a vast majority for Kerry. Rarely do I come across an American who admits to having voted for Bush. And yet some large group of Republicans in denial seem to have cast ballots for Bush.

At least... I think they did. But maybe not.
posted by Count Ziggurat at 11:15 AM on November 19, 2004