The Webby’s are sometimes referred to as the Oscars of the internet. Thing is, although they’ve been around for 16 years now (that’s a long time in internet years), they still have an element of edginess to them that their film counterparts simply can’t compete with.
Acceptance speeches are limited to five words, the awards include Meme of the Year — which went to Nyan Cat and the Hollywood celebrities who come are genuinely there to hang out with some of their favourite geeks.
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This year’s ceremony kept that spirit and tradition going. Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the Webby’s honoured the likes of Pinterest, Bjork and Danny McBride. What other award show can you say that of?
1. Steve Jobs remembered
When Steve Jobs died late last year, you likely saw a version of Apple’s 1997 “Think Different” ad narrated by the Apple co-founder. Well the guy who narrated the version that eventually went out to the public was actor Richard Dreyfus. Fitting then that he should lead a tribute to Jobs that included the likes of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and internet pioneer Vincent Cerf. Oh and Dreyfus gets a dig in at Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin just for good measure.
2. Louis CK accepts Person of the Year Award
Patton Oswalt, Jim Gaffigan and Louis CK within a few minutes of each other equals comedy gold. CK’s five word speech is brilliant.
3. Meme of the Year
This is strictly for people who are fans of awkward Napoleon Dynatmite-esque humour. The rainbow-coloured version of the Webby is pretty damn awesome though. Look out for Scumbag Steve at the end of the clip being, well, a scumbag.
4. The year in protest
These days you seldom think “protest” without also thinking “social media”. The Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the anti SOPA protests all illustrated how important social media is in trying to effect change in the world. The insert, presented by Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore, is a great demonstration of how social changed the face of protest in 2011. The thought of Facebook getting an award for providing people with a platform to protest does, however, rankle a little.
5. The Key of Awesome take a dig at ‘foodstagramers’
If know anyone who has Instagram (yes I do realise that the last three words of that phrase are becoming increasingly redundant) then you’ve seen vintage-filtered pictures of food. In fact, you’ve probably seen enough to get really sick of it. This song, by the Key of Awesome is a public service message food photographers everywhere: “eat it, don’t tweet it”. If you liked the video for this song, you’ll like the live performance just as much.
6. In search of…firsts
“First!” Anyone who’s ever read any comments section on any site on the web will have seen that word. But who had the internet’s first first?
