Don’t watch, blog!

As we all know by now Time magazine named YOU as the person of the year 2006. But really what was so special about that?! Yes, the 2006 were the year when the Internet became a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. And yes, the online world is getting bigger and bigger, but it’s not as big as we might think. We, the online people, are still a minority, even though we like to believe that we are the biggest, brightest and boldest there is. Maybe in a couple of year or so…

Ed Caesar at The Independent:

So don't tell me, Time magazine, that we are all your people of the year, because when you said that we had framed the new digital democracy, you weren't talking about my mum. The digital democracy - the girl with her videophone at the Nutini gig - is still a niche constituency, albeit an increasingly influential one. The podcasters are still outnumbered by the people with analogue radios listening to The Archers; the old narratives are still pulling the biggest crowds; and, the odd internet start-up billionaire aside, the old media powers are still the ones making money.

But there has been a shift in vision in 2006 - one that can only redouble in 2007. And, in one sense, it is a democratising tendency. It is that we can get whatever we want, wherever we want.