Media

Facebook‘s Zuckerberg Named ’Person of the Year’

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2010.

At 26, Zuckerberg is the youngest “Person of the Year” since the first one chosen, Charles Lindbergh; he was 25 when he was named in 1927, Time said Wednesday. Zuckerberg beat out Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II by just two weeks: She was 26 when she was named in 1952.

Incidentally, Queen Elizabeth II has recently joined Zuckerberg’s social networking behemoth.

Zuckerberg has put himself on the map not only as one of the world’s youngest billionaires, but also as a prominent newcomer to the world of philanthropy.

Earlier this year, he pledged $100 million over five years to the Newark, N.J. school system. Now, he’s in the company of media titans Carl Icahn, 74, Barry Diller, 68, and others who have joined Giving Pledge, an effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to commit the country’s wealthiest people to step up their charitable donations.

Zuckerberg owns about a quarter of Facebook’s shares.

Zuckerberg has built Facebook into an international phenomenon by stretching the lines of social convention and embracing a new and far more permeable definition of community. In this new world, users are able to construct a social network well beyond what would ever be possible face-to-face.

“I’m trying to make the world a more open place,“ Zuckerberg says in the ”bio” line of his own Facebook page.

Born in Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room, the site has in six years grown to more than 500 million users worldwide and a dollar worth in the billions.

Facebook was the subject of director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s film “The Social Network. It features a dark portrayal of Zuckerberg by Jesse Eisenberg, as well as the direction he‘s taking his company and his status as one of America’s most influential figures.

The film has been picked as the best of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review. On Tuesday, it received six Golden Globe nominations, including best picture, drama, going up against its chief rival, the British monarchy tale “The King’s Speech,” which led with seven nominations.

Time’s “Person of the Year” is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke received the honor last year. The 2008 winner was then-President-elect Barack Obama. The 2007 winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Other previous winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush, and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

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On the Net: http://www.time.com/

Comments (41)

  • DGroundhog
    Posted on December 16, 2010 at 5:13am

    On one hand, at least Assange’s supporters are upset about it.

    On the other hand, I don’t see how Sarah Palin or the Tea Party could be snubbed for the award. I suppose Beck should be up there as well for his 8/28 event. (something I admit I was VERY slow to catch onto – literally had to see it happen before I understood)

    Oh, and Thanks Glenn for inspiring me to reaffirm my Christian faith boldly and proudly.

    Report Post »  
  • Sunnyr
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 2:47pm

    Time Magazine was a shocker this year. They actually acknowledged the TEA PARTY, in the Number Two spot and OUR HERO, Glenn Beck in the Number Nine spot. Our Dear Leader, Comrade Obozo was waaaay down the list of influential people, NUMBER THIRTY THREE! lol.lol.lol!!
    What a blow to Captain Clueless’s massive ego! Go Glenn! People are listening in massive numbers. You must use your power very wisely, as we know you will. YOU are much more influential than the “most powerful man in the world.” (What a joke his is!)

    Report Post » Sunnyr  
  • Roark1
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 2:46pm

    “I’m trying to make the world a more open place,“ Zuckerberg says in the ”bio” line of his own Facebook page.

    That’s odd, it’s strangely similar to the mission of G. Soros’s Open Society.

    Report Post »  
  • The Bees
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 2:27pm

    Time magazine is sooooo irrelevant!!

    Report Post » The Bees  
  • historypaper
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 2:20pm

    Why?

    Report Post » historypaper  
  • temple62
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 11:25am

    Did he solve the country’s economic problems? Did he help end the wars in the arab sands? Did he reduce joblessness? This is about as futile as giving praise to Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. Buffet’s claim to fame is he has laid off all critical employees during the takeover of a company. Gates might as well be selling drugs, once you have incurred the expense of his software you find out it is littered with flaws and you can’t wait to give him more money for a “fix”.

    Report Post » temple62  
  • FarSideGuy
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 11:01am

    I am not all that surprised they named this guy “Person of the Year.” It is all part of the shell game in America. While teens, 20′s & 30-yo’s are writing and reading on Facebook about some cute kitten video, what they had for lunch or that they just had a bowel movement (no, I’m not kidding), the world around us, and esp the US, is going to hell in a handbasket. FB is all part of the ruse, it takes people’s eyes off what is really happening. It’s all part of the dumbing-down of America, and thanks to this guy, it has become a whole lot easier.

    Report Post » FarSideGuy  
    • FarSideGuy
      Posted on December 15, 2010 at 11:11am

      Another aspect of Facebook is the self-erosion of privacy. So many users do not care what they share with total strangers: pictures, thoughts, feelings, etc, that they are numbing themselves to any idea of privacy. So when Obamacare, or Big Brother Gov’t, or whoever comes and demands their information, they will not care. When you have just told the world that you went #2, do you care that your employer has your medical records?

      Report Post » FarSideGuy  
  • imareader
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:33am

    Glenn Beck…”Person of the Year.” ;*)

    Report Post »  
  • MidAmerican
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:22am

    Time what?

    Report Post »  
  • ginger100
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:17am

    He’s cursed now, Time named Adolf Hitler as person of the year and look what happened to him.

    Report Post » ginger100  
  • redneck hickabilly
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:10am

    socialnetworking has been around a-lot longer then facebook i cant believe people dont remember messegeboard-days the days before irc-chat
    its not orginal nor changed the world what a joke

    Report Post »  
    • printdesignchicago.com
      Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:51am

      i still use irc almost daily. :D

      Report Post » printdesignchicago.com  
    • sWampy
      Posted on December 15, 2010 at 2:17pm

      Yes old fido net and irc did all the leg work for myspace / facebook/ whatever is next. These guys just took all the ideas that sprang to life in those old chat rooms and used them when the technology finally advanced enough to bring them to the masses. We were using irc bots and dcc to serve as voice and video chats servers a decade before the term VOIP was even coined.

      Report Post »  
  • alcarfl
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:07am

    How much consideration was given to Cher, Michael Moore and Charlie Manson this year, Time?Raise your hand if you subscribe or purchase or read Time Magazine. Anyone?….. No one? Irrelevant.

    Report Post »  
  • Tyson
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:07am

    He creates a site to monitor every aspect of your life, willingly granted, and he is the Person of the Year? Why would you want to have anything to do with supporting a site that has been shown to increase identifity theft, criminal activity, child molestation and in a few case stalking that resulted in murder, all under the guise of reaching out to people you lost contact with in High Scholl that to be honest you didn’t realy like then, or promote gossip, destroy time with your immediate family because you spend hours upon hours on facebook. Blight on Humanity and the family!

    Report Post » Tyson  
  • blanco
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:43am

    Is that because Hitler was dead, TIME?

    Report Post »  
  • heavyduty
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:34am

    You know they wouldn’t have picked Glenn Beck, but they had to pick somebody.

    Report Post »  
  • Dstarr55
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:31am

    I was somewhat disappointed (although given Time Magazine’s decline I guess I should not be) that this guy made Person of the Year. Facebook is not new, it has been around since 2004. Its influence on the culture is also not new this year so I really don’t understand why Time suddenly recognized Zuckerberg in 2010. However, we just had the biggest smack down election in decades with a large part played by the Tea Party. This changes the political landscape of the most powerful nation yet they come in second? The conservative movement was even more evident on 8/28 (Glenn Beck’s rally) but I guess Time shrugs that off as well. My only conclusion is Time didn’t want to give the recognition to Obama’s shellacking by the grass root movement called the Tea Party nor to Glenn Beck whose rally dwarfed those of the progressives.

    Report Post »  
  • mtnclimberjim
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:31am

    This is nice peanut.

    Report Post » mtnclimberjim  
  • kryptonite
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:31am

    Who cares? Not a dime for TIME. First they ignored We the People and then they besmirched us. America’s People of the Year are Glenn and the Tea Party.

    Report Post »  
  • Spawnomite
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:28am

    I refuse to do facebook.
    No doubt google and facebook are in cahoots with the administration.

    Report Post »  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:26am

    Lame pick.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
  • ILoveGlenn
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:20am

    Yea, BUT the cover photo looks HORRIBLE!

    Report Post » ILoveGlenn  
  • hauschild
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:16am

    Glenn Beck gets half a million people to attend a rally in Washington DC which has happened how many times before? And, Zuckerberg has gotten rich and given away SOME of his money. Uh, which is a more amazing feat?

    If Zuck had given away ALL his fortune, now you’re onto something. But, since I haven‘t read Time Magazine since the mid 1980’s, it doesn’t really matter all that much to me, other than a guy wouldn’t mind some fair play every 30 years, or so.

    Report Post »  
  • sarg356
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:16am

    Glenn Beck Person of the year.

    Report Post »  
  • BeckIsNuts
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:08am

    Any bets out there on how many “Jew conspiracy” posts we’ll see on this one?

    Report Post »  
    • hauschild
      Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:18am

      Since this isn’t a liberal or progressive blog, I doubt you’ll any.

      Report Post »  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:26am

      Seems the liberals are the Jew haters, like the Rev. Wright, Obama’s spiritual mentor for 20 years. Maybe go check with the Huffpo. You’ll find other like minded anti-semites there to talk to.

      Report Post » Gonzo  
    • Dstarr55
      Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:42am

      Gonzo, I agree – The first thing I thought of with the naming of Person of the Year was not his religion but why him and why now. To me it was a slam to the Tea Party who were far more influential this year especially given the recent elections. I can only assume Beckisnuts, that you are thinking of his own prejudices. The fact is Conservatives and Christians are strong supporters of Israel so why would they jumpt to a jewish conspiracy?

      Report Post »  
    • BeckIsNuts
      Posted on December 15, 2010 at 10:42am

      Please. This forum is rife with racists and bigots. Fundamentalists are famous for blaming the Jews for Jesus death.

      Report Post »  
  • makom
    Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:04am

    The man of the Year is someone that stole an Idea given to him in trust. This kinda shows what level the world is on at the present time. This Guy is nothing more than a THIEF.

    Report Post »  

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