TIME.com: Person of the Year: You -- Dec. 25, 2006 -- Page 1

Yeah, right. Everybody gets to be the Person of the Year. Andy Warhol is now vindicated.

Laying aside the obvious publicity gimmick--Time is printing its cover with a mirror on it to make its point--what I've seen of the article rather misses the point. Blogs, letters-to-the-editor (and commentary on on-line polls), and videos are all very well. But that's not all there is to user-contributed content! Did they even bother to talk about the Wikipedia, for example?

Actually--by way of an "acceptance post"--I'd like to thank those who made user contributions possible. Let's have a hand for the folks at digg.com, and, of course, the Wikipedia--even though I can tell you right now that they're biased (and don't want to admit it). And let's also thank the wonderful folks that made the Internet what it is: a place whose barriers-to-entry are paper-thin. You don't like the Wikipedia? Have no fear! They have no monopoly on the MediaWiki software that powers their project. Lots of other Wikis are out there, advertising for editors all the time. (My current favorite: CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation.)

So to everyone who made it possible even for me to rant and rave (if anyone's listening), I say again: Thank you, thank you, thank you.