Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Person of the... what?

Time somewhat inexplicably today chose Mark Zuckerberg over Julian Assange for person of the year, despite the fact that Assange received more than twenty times the online votes (382,000 to 18,000), and Zuckerberg's main contribution to society (Facebook) did not take place in this year while Assange's (leaks leaks leaks!) most definitely did. I guess there was that tight movie about Zuckerberg this year, but other than that I just can't see the reasoning.

If anything, it is yet another reminder of how Time has fully committed to its new mission as a magazine for children:


TIME Announces New Version Of Magazine Aimed At Adults


Meanwhile, the US Air Force has entirely prohibited its members from accessing any content on sites that posted wikileaks cables, including the New York Times, the Guardian, der Spiegel, El PaĆ­s, and Le Monde. HOLY LIVING CRAP THAT'S CRAZY.

6 comments:

  1. perhaps they're somewhat concerned that Assange's votes were... massaged. Especially considering the coordinated hacking effort against major companies which pulled support for wikileaks not so long ago. I'm guessing the voting was done online?

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  2. Also, it would be REALLY awkward if he was convicted of rape and you called him person of the year!

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  3. I agree pretty much with 6.54 on this one, just want to point that rape charge or not, or whatever else bad things he did or has done, I think person of the year is supposed to be an impact thing, good or bad.(I think Hitler, Stalin, among others have won it)

    Which, in that case I think he's had the biggest impact hands down.

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  4. Precisely. Hitler was in the top four people of the CENTURY. Hence my contention that Time is increasingly a magazine that is unwilling to think about adult issues.

    Insofar as the choice makes sense, it's because wikileaks is about a lot more than Assange, and divorcing the two in the public imagination is worthwhile. Whatever the fuck Assange may or may not have done is completely irrelevant to the leaks and the issues they raise, and it's important that the country realizes that. But I don't think that's what they had in mind here.

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  5. Also why would you give it to the facebook guy this year other than having made a movie about it in the last year? What is significant about him this year other than that?

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  6. my argument wasn't so much about who deserved it - I was only trying to address the point about his winning the reader vote.

    But yeah, facebook's been out for a while now, so I don't see why now is a good time to call Zuckerberg person of the year...

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