It's All About You

Congratulations! Why don’t you tell a person! That’s so great. I can’t believe you were selected as Time’s person of the year. Your parents must be so proud. Man, that’s really great. “Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world.”

And, as cl-libraone posts on In The News: “Let us not forget iV message board members! :)”

millimax isn’t so convinced, though. “I watched part of the decision proceed on TV today, and in the end I had a flat feeling. In is too cute by far... I guess in one way, if everyone examines their conscience we might grasp the impact of this person of the year. Honestly, I doubt it, we will see just another gimmick.”

cl-libraone: “Yes the decision is a bit cutsy. On the other hand it's pretty amazing the one can make a query about any subject/topic & receive answers/opinions from anywhere in world.”

I don’t know about you all, but everyone I’ve talked to has the same kind of head-scratching response to the announcement that Time Magazine has decided that, um, everyone is person of the year. What is this, kindergarten? We’re all special! Hey, I’m as excited by the growth of user-generated digital technology as the next, but was that really the most significant thing that happened this year? And, I don’t know, aren’t we already self-centered enough, holed up with our own little YouTube videos and our own little blogs? Do we need to be congratulated for it?

Ok, ok, I know that Time’s whole deal is that the person of the year is the one who influenced it the most, not the one who influenced it the best.

Here's what Nora Ephron wrote about it in her piece “On Being Person of the Year”: “I especially love the part about ‘working for nothing,’ I especially love the condescension in that phrase, the dead giveaway about how Time Magazine really feels about the giant collective unwashed, unpaid You Out Here that is nonetheless making life a misery for Them In There -- for the Old Media scrambling to figure out What It Means for things like the future of print, the paper business, network television, privacy, and their jobs, for which (it goes without saying) they are paid.”

I love that! Zing!

So, what do you think? After all, you’re the person of the year!