Was Assange Robbed Of Time Person Of The Year Title?

If you read any of the headlines about Time's choice of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg as Person Of The Year, you would think there were only two contenders. Which is a half-truth. People seem to be confused about the magazine's choice of Zuckerberg over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who won the popular vote and really is more of a 2010 phenomenon. Is Time ignoring the voice of the people in favor of a less controversial character, or are they just convinced it's still 2007?

The Zuckerberg writeup includes everything from Virginia Woolfe quotes to that study about how the human brain can only keep track of 150 "friends," ending with the typical praise about Facebook changing the way we live and communicate. But skeptics like the Observer cry that Assange deserves the award for "his ability to reawaken us to the horrors of war, to rattle those long entrenched in the seats power and to truly test the limits of free speech and freedom of information."

Time tries to defend themselves, writing, "Zuckerberg enables individuals to voluntarily share information with the idea of empowering them. Assange sees the world as filled with real and imagined enemies; Zuckerberg sees the world as filled with potential friends." But the two have one thing in common, both men are eager to share your personal information (though Zuckerberg has an easier time because your drunken photos are just a click away). Zuckerberg beat out other finalists like Glenn Beck, the Tea Party, the Chilean miners, the Double Rainbow guy, and Lady Gaga. Where's the outrage over her snub?! Are her little monsters really satisfied with just a few lousy wax figures?

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By Jaya Saxena in News on December 15, 2010 10:54 AM

Comments [rss]

AntonB

He looks like a freakin' alien.

lxbkr

"Assange sees the world as filled with real and imagined enemies; Zuckerberg sees the world as filled with potential friends." -That about sums up the ignorance over at Time.

Kao Lim

Let's see. Major of a certain tribe picks man of a certain tribe to be education chancellor.
Magazine corp owned by a certain tribe picks man of a certain tribe to be "man of the year."

sleepswitheyesopen

I'm pretty sure the people who first heard of Facebook this year are probably not even tech savvy enough to use it. I mean it had to have been popular enough last year to make a fucking movie out of it. TIME is quickly sealing its fate as the out of touch, hard copy magazine that it truly is. Maybe its time to rename Jesus as person of the year, he apparently did some pretty incredible shit about 2000 years ago.

Assange was absolutely over-looked.

David McCaffredy

The modern era of Time Magazine has shown that they choose the feel-good route over reality. Picking Giuliani for Person of the Year in 2001 comes to mind. I'm PRETTY sure that bin Laden influenced the mood and decisions of the world that year more, but I guess he wasn't granting interviews and photo sessions to Time. I wonder who Time's current editorial staff would have picked back 1938...

chuzzlewit

face-book has blown the lid off of my life. before face-book i had nowhere to put all of my info and shit online in one place so that some guy named zuckerberg could peddle it in order to get rich. this is an american success story of astounding proportion and significance. hello fellow alumni from miss gradgrind's second grade class 1972. look, i've posted photos of our new (to us!) car, also i need some help holding a goat in farmville.thanks neighbor.

harrisgraber

Assange was simply too controversial for Time Magazine.
Did Facebook really take off in 2010? I think it might have. If so, then Zuckerberg is a good choice. Facebook has added another level to the way people communicate.

SFNY

Too controversial? P'shaw. Have you seen who Time named Man of the Year in '37, '38 and '39? (Granted those editors are long gone, but still, those years set a precedent for calling out controversy.)

mocanlagunas

Well, Assange didn't give the leaks to Time...

Mordicai

Hey, he invented a brand new thing! There has never been anything like Myspace before. Zuckerberg changed the game with Friendster. We communicate like we never have before thanks to SixDegrees.