Love him, hate him but you can?t ignore him. Mark Zuckerberg, the head of a small country?the republic of Facebook?has been named Time?s Person of the Year. Whether this was Facebook?s year or that the recognition has come two years too late, or why Gates, Google and Jobs haven?t made the list thus far for much the same reasons that Zuckerberg has, is a separate debate altogether. Having added its 550 millionth member this year, there is little doubt that Facebook has revolutionised the way people interact, using technology to bridge gaps between continents.
Every award comes with its fair share of criticism, and this is no exception. The biggest complain across the blogosphere appears to be that Time ignored popular sentiment, using its ?right? to select the winner itself. Assange came in at the top of the voter list with 382,026 votes compared to just 18,353 for Zuckerberg. Why ask readers to vote if their choices will ultimately not be taken into account, they ask? It is likely that the decision was, in part, motivated by political pressure. Given the US government?s stance on WikiLeaks and its order to ISPs across the globe to shut the Website down, presenting WikiLeaks?s founder with an award at this time may have been more than politically awkward for Time. But regardless of who deserved it more, Zuckerberg has played an important role in empowering people by enabling them to engage in a more culturally vibrant environment, for the better or worse, with fewer boundaries. He is the same age as Queen Elizabeth when she was Person of the Year. ?But unlike the Queen, he did not inherit an empire; he created one,? says Time.