It has always been us
So the Time person of the year is you. Otherwise know as us.
Well, I suppose I should give Time some credit for recognizing the power of the people. Only thing is, there’s no news here. This is nothing new. We have always been in charge. It’s just that the people who thought they had the power now have no choice to but hear us and recognize that we are, and always have been, the boss.
This is stated in the hammer-and-chisel language of a Time tome:
But look at 2006 through a different lens and you’ll see another story, one that isn’t about conflict or great men. It’s a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. . . . It’s about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes. . . .The new Web is a very different thing. It’s a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it’s really a revolution. . . .
And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you. . . .
I don’t disagree with a thing they say. I just want to turn down the volume a bit. And people think bloggers like me get overheated.
This year’s cover reveals that the notion — or they would like to think, institution — of a single person of the year in the single biggest news magazine is such a social anachronism. It is a vestige of the mass era. It is the conceit of mass media that they could pick one person who mattered for the world and that we would listen.
So it’s wise of Time to pick many people. That’s the way the world really works. There are many worlds within our world and many leaders in them. So if Time were doing its job properly, it would highlight a million people of the year. But, of course, it can’t. The form doesn’t allow it. And the form is what led to massthink. But mass is over. And I see this as Time’s admission of that. And so for that, I applaud them.
God knows what they’ll put on the cover near year. (Knowing them, it may well be God.)
December 17th, 2006 at 10:09 am
[...] It’s a slow news Sunday in December, so everyone is reporting that Time Magazine as picked You. (capitalized with a full stop) as its person of the year. I guess that means we’ll have a repeat winner next winner next year, unless they pick themselves (or, as Jeff Jarvis suggests, God). [...]
December 17th, 2006 at 10:59 am
I agree. This proves that TIME has become irrelevant and has lost it leadership. No doubt this decision has always been made by committee, but somebody has to be in charge. The person that let “you” be the person of year, just abdicated any responsiblity or leadership.
Don’t you wish you were a fly on the wall, when some wise cracker said, “hey, you be person of the year” and everybody jumped on the bandwagon?
“You” is blah.
December 17th, 2006 at 11:11 am
It is the conceit of mass media that they could pick one person who mattered for the world and that we would listen. So it’s wise of Time to pick many people.
Perhaps in the Age of Luce Time was an advocate of the “great man” theory (takes one to know one), but I don’t think that is still the case. Rather, I think at least part of the rationale for POTY is to inform and stimulate political and social discourse (another part, I’m sure, is to have a good week at the newsstand).
Does naming “You” as POTY accomplish that? I don’t think so. First, as you say, there is nothing new here. Second, much of what will make “You” interesting hasn’t happened yet. Yes, “You” are TiVo-ing Letterman, customizing ringtones and ordering movies on demand, but in numbers (and demos) that matter “You” aren’t yet uploading your own television commercials, forming your own social networks, creating newscasts or even linking to each other’s blogs.
So if it is both too soon and too late to recognize “You” as POTY, why now? Perhaps, in a year in which so much has happened involving so many notable people, “They” couldn’t decide. Or perhaps “They” they were being clever. Or lazy. But wise? “I” don’t think so.
December 17th, 2006 at 11:17 am
[...] I’m with Jeff Jarvis on this one. Posted by Jackie Danicki | [...]
December 17th, 2006 at 11:19 am
“It’s about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.â€
It is nice to read that.
I, who am a pragmatist and far away from being an idealist, always thought that they suddenly realized that the customers’ made content was so cheap to be like nothing and it paid much more than the professionals’ made.
Because people like to know what your cat eats for dinner instead of knowing how many Iraqis died in a few hours.
I thought in a way it was regress instead of progress, because the blogs which really were successful and got many visitors were the ones that the mass liked most.
I thought that 90% of what we see on TV, we hear on the Radio, we read on the Internet was not worth listening or looking at.
But I am glad to know that “It’s about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.â€
December 17th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
It’s obviously a clever move by them to generate buzz for the aging magazine. Seeing the response of the blogosphere, i would say that it was a rounding success.
December 17th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
[...] my self-congratulatory bubble. As always, of course, he’s pretty much nailed it. | Permalink Filed under: Culture, Society, Technology by — Doug @ 7:47am [...]
December 17th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
When this topic came up on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, George Will looked like he had a stomach ache. I don’t think he much likes the idea that everyone has a voice and a platform.
December 17th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
[...] The crowd has been named the Time person of the year. More specifically they will claim “You” as their choice given the events of the past year and the now more apparent power of individuals. I think Jarvis gets it right when he explains that it has always been “us”: It’s just that the people who thought they had the power now have no choice to but hear us and recognize that we are, and always have been, the boss. [...]
December 17th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
It may have always been us but until recently, we don’t have the efficient and effective means to have others listen to us directly and bypassing the old media.
Thanks for the idea of putting your picture on the cover of TIME. I may play with photoshop and do that as well. (smile)
December 17th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
[...] Update: I like the way Jeff Jarvis puts it. Well said. [...]
December 17th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
This reminds me of how a professor at my school opened his first class in January 1993. He said,
“1992, The Year of the Woman…….Well it’s over.”
December 17th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
well said. I like where Jeff mentions it’s always been us, Time just realized.
December 17th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
[...] Gefällt mir natürlich sehr gut. Papst oder Kanzlerin zu werden war dagegen gar nix. Jetzt sind wir alle die Person des Jahres 2006. Ich frage mich nur: wer kann in 2007 Person des Jahres werden, wenn wir es alle dieses Jahr schon waren? (via) Tags: Web 2.0, Blogs, Deutschland, MySpace, YouTube, MyVideo, Flickr Related posts: [...]
December 17th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
The best part was the pre-roll ad from Chrysler before you can view the article. “You might not be Time Person of the Year. But you can drive like you are.” Screen-cap here.
December 17th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Jarvis you missed the point big time! Your following statement is ridiculous:
“Only thing is, there’s no news here. This is nothing new. We have always been in charge.â€
What have you been smoking? What planet have you been living on?
The point of the article is that the masses have never really had a very powerful voice until technology, the internet and blogging have turned everything upside down and reversed the power based…
In 2006 every day people are creating and publishing content that affects the sales of products, the success of companies and politics and the way society thinks. Is that how you think it was in the 40’s…. 60’s…. 80’s???
The Time article is relevant and profound!
“We have always been in charge???? BULLSHIT… IN YOUR DREAMS.
December 17th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
The issue here Jeff is the relevance, if there is any, of Time Magazine. Come on, its almost as dead as Henry Luce. Hold it by the edge and it folds across the staples of its own weight, or lack thereof.
December 17th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
I can’t wait to put this on my resume!
December 17th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
[...] Meanwhile, the blogosphere has been buzzing about Time’s choice. I won’t even attempt to list all of the related articles and blog comments; here’s a link to a Techmeme page that (as of this evening) contained a link to the Time article, half a dozen related articles, and a few dozen blog-related discussions. Much of it is a variation on Jeff Jarvis’ comment on his BuzzMachine blog, in which he says: [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 3:05 am
another moronic post. this guy is like the thomas friedman of the internets. how on earth did this post show up on TechMeme? isn’t that supposed to be a curated list of non-nonsensical news and blog posts?
hilarious. keep preaching, brother. you’re mostly harmless, but good for a few chuckles every now and again.
December 18th, 2006 at 4:40 am
People of the year award - it is a tired idea in an age of empoweed web citizens. BBC already called 2005 the year of digital digital. So, what’s new.
Mediavidea says there are more problems with Time Magzine.
http://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2006/12/no-time-for-time-magazine.html
December 18th, 2006 at 4:46 am
Sadaam ……. “come on down” - YOU have been selected by Time Irrelevant as person of the year.
December 18th, 2006 at 7:46 am
[...] (via) Tags: Web 2.0, Social, YouTube, MySpace, Germany, 2006 Related posts: [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 9:30 am
[...] Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine: This year’s cover reveals that the notion — or they would like to think, institution — of a single person of the year in the single biggest news magazine is such a social anachronism. It is a vestige of the mass era. It is the conceit of mass media that they could pick one person who mattered for the world and that we would listen. [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 9:51 am
[...] I called the TIME story a gimmick because we bloggers have known for years that what we have the power to do is the real news. Echoing the sentiments of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, media blogger Jeff Jarvis says that “person of the year” stories are relics from the “mass era” anyway. The era of “hits” was a product of market scarcity. Because it costs money to store records and CDs and broadcast TV shows, sellers allowed only the most profitable to occupy shelves and airwaves. But the web has ushered in the niche-market era. The mass market still exists, but it no longer dominates the way it used to. [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 11:09 am
[...] I think some of the big bloggers are being a bit churlish about Time. If it’s a wheeze to get lots of traffic off bloggers, then they are only doing what most of do, but don’t like to admit (they are succeeding too, so good for them). More likley it was less calculated, and a generous gesture to a rival form of media. Time’s “Person of the year” is not meant to be news, it’s meant to be a retrospective recognition, and a sign of the times that will be recognised in years to come. Perhaps bloggers don’t always have to be negative…. tags:Blog Home media [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 11:51 am
On the “perhaps bloggers don’t always have to be negative”–that was my thought too–but it raises an interesting question about the primary message of this medium–it seems that being negative, emotional, dramatic and a bit pissed off is what seems to get readers to the blog.
This has interesting implications for the rest of the media world too..as traditionally the newest forms of media influence and seep into the other forms, I wonder if as attitude becomes an even greater draw for readers (and therefore ultimately the metric for success), in the blogosphere if we are going to find this seeping first on broadcast (I think we already have) and then more and more in journals and newspapers. Look at the influence of CNN’s “way” has been on other media as an example.
Attitude–negative and critical–is fine–when used appropriately for the topic at hand but not if it is just an automatic and substitutes for thinking, reflection and good judgment.
December 18th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
[...] UPDATE: See Jeff Jarvis’ related thoughts, which he posted earlier. Also, William Beutler says he predicted this would happen two months ago. [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
[...] RELATED: “I look forward to the day when Time and other traditional magazines fully embrace us when it comes to the journalism.” - Dan Gillmor “….Time is, separating themselves where there is no separation.” - Dave Winer “So if Time were doing its job properly, it would highlight a million people of the year. But, of course, it can’t. The form doesn’t allow it. And the form is what led to massthink. But mass is over.” - Jeff Jarvis Newspapers Technorati [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
[...] BuzzMachine: It has always been us Jeff Jarvis på Buzzmachine pekar ut att Times val av årets person signalerar slutet på tron att det finns en enande massmedia som alla följer och som kan dikterar vad som är viktigt. (tags: jeff_jarvis buzzmachine person_of_the_year 2006 time deltagande_journalistik deltagande_kultur) [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
[...] Over at Buzzmachine, Jeff Jarvis says Time got it right, but where’s the story? “Well, I suppose I should give Time some credit for recognizing the power of the people. Only thing is, there’s no news here. This is nothing new. We have always been in charge. It’s just that the people who thought they had the power now have no choice to but hear us and recognize that we are, and always have been, the boss. [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
The Irony of You
Setting off a barrage of cutesy opening lines by bloggers, Time Magazine designated “You” as the person of the year. Bloggers responded with begrudging thanks, collective self-congratulations, lessons in semantics and more musings. Triumph! Citizen m…
December 19th, 2006 at 2:32 am
[...] Time, yeni bir havadismis gibi “kontrol sizde” derken Jeff Jarvis‘te zaten her zaman biz kontrol ediyorduk, bunda yeni birsey yok diyor. Katiliyorum. Biz zaten kontrolun bizde oldugunun ya da en azindan olmasi gerektiginin farkindayiz. Bunu anlamakta zorlanan ve yeni yeni anlamaya baslayan ise bilgi caginin patronlari. Tam olarak anladiklarinda bu kontrolu vermek isteyecekler mi sizce? [...]
December 19th, 2006 at 10:18 am
[...] Will Samson Stephen Shields Justin Taylor Jeff Jarvis [...]
December 20th, 2006 at 8:20 am
[...] This week we’ve also seen Village Soup, a midcoast-area online and print news company, create a Blog section on their website. And, if you missed it, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year was…You. The issue revolves around the tremendous power and changing force of social media. ( read Jeff Jarvis’s great overview of this ) [...]
December 20th, 2006 at 9:29 am
Hello,
Just wanted to let you know I linked to your blog in my column on CBSNews.com today. Thanks!
If you want to take a look, here’s the link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/19/blogophile/main2280226.shtml
Thanks,
Melissa
December 20th, 2006 at 11:49 am
I had a chance to interview Time Magazine’s number 2 editor. I asked him about this. His response — “I think that this year it reached critical mass because of the rise of sites like YouTube that really took hold. Wikipedia had been around, but this is the year that people really started to understand this new wave of media, what does it mean and how it unfolds….”
More here
December 21st, 2006 at 2:47 am
[...] In his commentary on Time naming everyone who uses the Internet the Person of the Year, Jeff Jarvis proclaims the end to mass media’s control over the flow of information. It’s a line we’ve all heard many times before from futurists like Jarvis who want to believe the world is being dramatically altered by millions dancing on YouTube, but it’s not. [...]
December 21st, 2006 at 1:38 pm
[...] Time - Person of the Year: You So it’s wise of Time to pick many people. That’s the way the world really works. There are many worlds within our world and many leaders in them. So if Time were doing its job properly, it would highlight a million people of the year. But, of course, it can’t. The form doesn’t allow it. And the form is what led to massthink. But mass is over. And I see this as Time’s admission of that. And so for that, I applaud them. God knows what they’ll put on the cover near year. (Knowing them, it may well be God.) It has always been us (BuzzMachine) [...]
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Notice that when you get to the end of the Time article there’s no place to comment.
December 23rd, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Yes it is true that the web 2.0 has empowered the people around the world, and Time Magazine has indicated right that the power lies in the hands of people “YOU”. But the real empowerment needs more efforts and I tried to look from an Indian perspective - where we need to improve a lot to make the internet reach till the bottom of the pyramid (society) ..then it will be the real empowerment of “YOU”. Check my blog (http://digitaldhaba.blogspot.com/) I tried to raise few questions with respect to Indian perspectives and web.
December 24th, 2006 at 7:13 am
Why is it that every blogger who’s been screaming for attention for the medium and the new reality of user/consumer empowerment is now bitching about the fact that the attention is starting to appear? I’m so sick of reading bloggers complaining about this Time cover story. This is a GREAT thing for us all.
All of this grumbling reminds me of that high school music snob… you know the guy who tried to get all of his friends to listen to Nirvana before they hit it big, but then laughed off the band as uncool when they did hit the big time.
Ugh. Be happy that we’re making progress with all this stuff. There’s NOTHING bad about this cover story!!
December 27th, 2006 at 9:35 am
[...] Het werd zachtjesaan tijd dat Time doorkreeg wat er aan de hand was rond het internet, zullen de technorati - zie bijvoorbeeld Scott Rosenberg en Jeff Jarvis - even hebben gedacht toen het weekblad er met hun ontdekking vandoor ging. Als het magazine nog even had gewacht, was web 2.0 al weer voorbij geweest, over zijn hoogtepunt heen. Er waren zelfs al internetdeskundigen die over web 3.0 (waaronder ook wel het semantische web wordt verstaan) schreven, al was het maar om aan te geven dat de voorganger zijn prachtige beloften ook niet had kunnen waarmaken. [...]
December 27th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Wow! Hooray for Me!
I’ve been working on my acceptance speech. This is what I have so far:
Wow! Time’s Person of the Year! And my mom said I’d never amount to anything! Let me start by saying that I was very lucky to receive this honor. In fact, I came very close to NOT getting an award at all. I only downloaded my first illegal video from YouTube last week.
The truth is that all great achievements are shared and no one person can lay claim to the complete credit. Therefore, I’d like to thank all of the 150 million little people who helped make my winning of this award possible. I need to mention by name WZUP97, ScottAB, Chairgrrl, 2Bchronic, Deeeh, Shaggy7teen, Playah, Netsoul, PDiddyplus2, HoneyB, MCLMNOP, BaddBrainz, and XPimp. And remember, I love all of you - even when I have to brutally flame you for posting something idiotic on my blog. You mean more to me than my real life family.
Together, we share an awesome responsibilty to build from the foundation we’ve constructed and go out and have an even greater impact for freedom in the world. And there is a lot to do. I noticed last night that none of you have posted that Beyonce CD that I asked for yet. Let’s get on it!
In closing I want to say that I really do deserve this, even if my MySpace profile is a lot of B.S. and all my Wikipedia posts were cut and pasted from someone else’s Web site. I put the ME in media. It is SO rewarding to finally be given my props. It almost makes having my identity stolen by one of my 30,000 MySpace friends worth it.