Here is the Webby's list of the 10 most influential Internet moments of the decade:
-- Craigslist, the free classifieds site, expands outside San Francisco in 2000, impacting newspaper publishers everywhere
-- Google AdWords launched in 2000 allowing advertisers to target their customers with laser-sharp precision
-- Wikipedia, the free open-source encyclopedia, launches in 2001 and today boasts more than 14 million articles in 271 different languages and bringing strangers together on projects
-- Napster shutdown in 2001, opening the file-sharing floodgates
-- Google's IPO in 2004 put the search engine on the path to powering countless aspects of our everyday lives
-- Online video revolution in 2006 that led to a boom in homemade and professional content on the Internet and helped reshape everything from pop culture to politics
-- Facebook opens to non-college students and Twitter takes off in 2006
-- The iPhone debuts in 2007 and smartphones go from a luxury item to a necessity with an app for just about every aspect of modern life
-- U.S. presidential campaign in 2008 in which the Internet changed every facet of the way campaigns are run
-- Iranian election protests in 2009 when Twitter proved vital in organizing demonstrations and as a protest too
-- Craigslist, the free classifieds site, expands outside San Francisco in 2000, impacting newspaper publishers everywhere
-- Google AdWords launched in 2000 allowing advertisers to target their customers with laser-sharp precision
-- Wikipedia, the free open-source encyclopedia, launches in 2001 and today boasts more than 14 million articles in 271 different languages and bringing strangers together on projects
-- Napster shutdown in 2001, opening the file-sharing floodgates
-- Google's IPO in 2004 put the search engine on the path to powering countless aspects of our everyday lives
-- Online video revolution in 2006 that led to a boom in homemade and professional content on the Internet and helped reshape everything from pop culture to politics
-- Facebook opens to non-college students and Twitter takes off in 2006
-- The iPhone debuts in 2007 and smartphones go from a luxury item to a necessity with an app for just about every aspect of modern life
-- U.S. presidential campaign in 2008 in which the Internet changed every facet of the way campaigns are run
-- Iranian election protests in 2009 when Twitter proved vital in organizing demonstrations and as a protest too
The one I want to focus on is Wikipedia's launch. I've heard that Wikipedia's success is thanks to top billing during mostly all Google searches. In fact, I've heard the relationship described as "Google is Wikipedia's sugar daddy." I'm not questioning that at all. I actually agree with it. I want to focus on Wikipedia's clout and credibility. When I say credibility, I don't necessarily mean accuracy. This is old issue that has been debated ad nauseum. I mean its social reputation. I remember being in high school and technology-inept teachers would scoff at the idea of anonymously editable information bank. Writing it off as inaccurate, they forbade students from ever using it.
Accepted in the tech circles, Wikipedia earning this recognition could solidify its reputation with non-techies i.e. my high school teachers and educators everywhere. This would be a huge leap for progression of knowledge.
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