The Webby Awards, a ceremony now 14 years strong celebrating the “best of the internet” (which is funny, because no one can quite recall there being an internet before Mark Zuckerburg was born and he’s like 12), just announced its list of winners, in advance of the presentation gala held June 14 in NYC, hosted by BJ Novak. Why list the winners over a month in advance? Because, c’mon, you know you’ve been on the edge of your seat wondering exactly how many Golden Modems Mashable was going to take home.
Well, wonder no longer: three. The Webbys have named Mashable “Best Cultural Blog (Webby Award)” and “Best Business Blog (Webby Award and People’s Voice)”. Other announced winners include The New York Times, Collegehumor, and TED.
Not to rain on the Webby parade, but the list of winners reads like a “so you want to learn to use the internet for stuff” guide: best celebrity site goes to jimcarrey.com, with U2.com as a runner up? Best web community is Flickr? Sure, we can count these things as accurate if the goal of the Webbys is to look back, not ahead. There are new online gathering spots growing daily, and it’d be awesome if the Webbys used their platform to illuminate those, rather than old standards. Also, bully for The Webbys in how much work they put into shining a light on the great online and offline work charities like the ASPCA do. It’s hard to keep that in mind, though, realizing that Wal-Mart’s answer to iTunes could’ve won a Webby.
Lest you think we’re just bitter, there are a few Webby winners who we totally agree with: Person of the Year – Roger Ebert; Mobile Social Networking – foursquare; Weird – Selleck Waterfall Sandwich. As for us, we’ve spiffied up the site and are ready to sweep the 2011 Webbys. You’ve been warned.