Webby Awards: the top 10 Internet moments of the decade
Since the start of the millennium, globalization and the Internet revolution have worked hand-in-hand to fundamentally change the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Globalization as we know it today would not have been possible without the Internet. As New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman described in his bestselling book “The World is Flat”, there are three great eras of globalization:
- Globalization 1.0 lasting from Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World through 1800.
- Globalization 2.0: from 1800 to 2000, a period of time in which global companies were driving the integration of the world economy.
- Globalization 3.0: started in 2000, at the center of this phase is the individual who interacts and competes globally.
If the Internet had not become so widely available during the past 10 years, Globalization 3.0 would not have taken place.
Whenever I boarded a plane this year to travel to a far-away country, I knew that there’d be some of my friends already awaiting me since they were up-to-date on my travel plans thanks to Facebook.
Ahead of my arrival in Tokyo, I had booked 11 different hotel stays online for a two-week period in Japan. Through this blog, a Japanese reporter contacted me requesting a TV interview in the Tokyo neighborhood of Harajuku. Thanks to another blog’s list of excellent and yet affordable restaurants from Tokyo to Kyoto, my trip was not only a cultural highlight of this year, but also a wonderful culinary experience.
Take a few minutes to recall in what ways the Internet has enabled you to get more out of your life, your journeys or your career.
Last month, The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences which gives out the Webby Awards published its list of the top 10 Internet moments of this decade.
here’s a short overview:
- Craigslist expanding outside San Francisco (2000)
- Google AdWords launch (2000)
- Launch of Wikipedia (2001)
- Shutdown of Napster (2001)
- IPO of Google (2004)
- Online Video Revolution (2006)
- Facebook available to everybody + Twitter becoming popular
- launch of the iPhone (2007): the mobile Internet revolution
- U.S. Presidential Campaign (2008)
- Twitter’s role in the Iranian Election Protests (2009)
Although this list is far from complete and not everybody may agree with it naming these events while leaving out other milestones, it underscores the Academy’s claim that the Internet is “the story of the decade”.
You might also be interested in these posts:
The Pace of Globalization II
>> An overview of the “three great eras of globalization” and my detailed analysis of Globalization 2.0.
Japan in Deflation - don’t underestimate the Japanese consumer!
>> An unconventional look at the state of the Japanese economy with a few photos and observations from my two-week stay in June this year.
things look pretty bad, don’t they? yet there’s reason to be optimistic
>> why U.S. debt is still manageable
