Tech Talk

The Webby Awards has released the list of Top 10 Internet moments of the decade, and it includes Wikipedia, Barack Obama, YouTube and Twitter.

Launched in 1996, the annual Webby awards are judged by 650-member academy.

David-Michel Davies, executive director of the awards said, “The Internet is the story of 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 milestone on our list is the Internet’s capacity to circumvent old systems and put more power into the hands of ordinary people,” he added.

And the Webby Awards list of  Top 10 most influential internet moment of the decades are:

- the launch of online encyclopedia Wikipedia in 2001 which “epitomizes the Internet’s power to bring strangers from around the world together to collaborate on projects both big and small.”;

- the use of the Internet in the US presidential campaign in 2008 which “transformed every aspect of the way election campaigns are fought.”;

- the launch of Google AdWords in 2000, the Google’s targeted text ad system which “turned advertising on its head.”;

- the expansion of Craigslist, an online classified site, outside San Francisco in 2000;

- Google’s initial public offering in 2004;

- the shutting down of file-sharing site Napster in 2001;

- the opening of Facebook to the masses in 2006;

- Apple’s iPhone debut in 2007;

- the online video revolution led by YouTube in 2006; and

- this year’s protests of the Iranian elections, which were mobilized through social media including Twitter.