The winners of the annual Webby Awards, hailed as the "Internet industry's Oscars," were announced yesterday. Nationalgeographic.com's Forces of Nature site grabbed the People's Voice award in the science category, and National Geographic News was recognized as Webby Worthy.
Other winning Web sites ranged from powerhouses like Yahoo! to lesser-known sites such as the blog Boing Boing.
When the Webbys were established in 1996, few people took notice. Still in its infancy, the Internet was seen by some as the exclusive domain of tech nerds.
Since then the Internet has reached into the homes of millions of people around the world, transforming the way many of us get our information, communicate, and shop.
The Webbys, not surprisingly, have also mushroomed into a prestigious award show. Their more than 60 categories range from employment and finance to science and movies.
National Geographic News spoke with Tiffany Shlain, the San Francisco-based founder of the Webbys, about what it takes to win a Webby.
Who are your judges?
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences comprises 550 judges from all disciplines. We have experts in activism, music, film, politics, business. It's growing every year, and it's a real "mind trust" for the Internet.
Any famous names?
We have musicians like Beck and David Bowie; [Virgin Atlantic Airlines founder] Richard Branson; Rob Glaser [the CEO] of Real Networks; Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons; and many others. We let people do an all-academy vote, so they get to choose the category they want to vote in.
How did the Webbys come about?
I started it almost a decade ago. As soon as I was shown the Web, I thought it was going to change the world. This was before the Internet boom, and a lot of people didn't know what the Web was. Of course, it grew enormously with the boom, and then the crash happened.
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