Most Important Website of the Past 10 Years

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krambman's avatar

krambman

Senior Member

3,606 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:16 PM
eBay
MySpace
Google
Facebook
Craigslist
YouTube
Wikipedia
Twitter
Other

Which website is the most important of the last ten years? I think a strong argument could be made for each.

eBay - This website revolutionized online shopping with the creation of PayPal. For the first time online transactions could be truly secure and could be made between two individuals and not just between an individual and a corporation.

MySpace - Started the social network revolution. Designed more to meet new people rather than to connect with people you know and to discover new entertainment like bands and comedians. Also gave us Tila Tequila and Dane Cook.

Google - This one doesn't really need much of an explanation. It's the worlds best search engine and a huge corporation who has managed to expand to other web services while maintaining their search engine as the flagship. Now synonymous with web searches.

Facebook - MySpace may have invented social networking, but Facebook defined it. What started out as a website for Ivy league students to connect quickly grew to include first college, then high school students, and eventually anyone in the world. Unlike MySpace, Facebook is designed to be a place to connect with people you already know and to interact and an all-encompassing way online. Has grown to be one of the world's biggest websites in just over 6 years and now has over 400 million users worldwide.

Craigslist - A very simple website with a simple goal to allow people a free place to exchange goods and services. Classifieds that once could only be purchased in newspapers were now free online in a convenient place. Craigslist made it easy to post and find items for sale in your area. Also made casual hook ups easy to arrange.

YouTube - Like Facebook YouTube is still a very young website that has simply exploded onto the world stage. With anyone having the ability to upload all kinds of user-generated video content YouTube is certainly the visual media of the future. It has become a place where funny or amazing things that otherwise never would have been viewed by anyone besides who was there can be seen by the world. Viral videos are everywhere and YouTube has even created celebrities and possibly won presidential elections.

Wikipedia - This has become the place to get information on almost everything. Since all content is user-generated the quantity of articles and detail of articles far exceeds anything you could ever find in a print encyclopedia. Also, while there may be innaccuracies because of it is user-generated, for that very same reason everything is highly peer reviewed and therefore inaccuracies don't usually last long.

Twitter - Took what people liked about social networking and text messaging and combined it into one. Allows users to alert all of their friends what they're doing all at once and allows people to keep up with what their friends are doing in an easy and manageable way. Also has become a way for celebrities to increase their celebrity and give the rest of us a glimpse into their lives. Biggest impact of Twitter has probably been the quick and efficient dispersal of breaking news.

Other - Some other websites that I consider honorable mention are Hotmail, Amazon, Yahoo, Hulu, Xanga, Blogspot, and of course, Ohio Chatter.
Jun 3, 2010 3:16pm
Mr. 300's avatar

Mr. 300

Senior Member

3,090 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:20 PM
JJHuddle
Jun 3, 2010 3:20pm
N

Nate

Formerly Known As Keebler

3,949 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:21 PM
Easy. Google.
Jun 3, 2010 3:21pm
J

jmog

Senior Member

6,567 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:21 PM
I said google, mainly because it is the ONLY site on the list I visit MANY MANY times a day.

Back in the day before google one might use 2 or 3 or 4 different search engines to fine what they want (yahoo, excite, ask jeeves, etc) now I can't think of the last time I used any search other than google.

Throw in google maps (yes mapquest started it but google maps perfected it), google earth, google docs, etc and I don't think this poll should even be close.
Jun 3, 2010 3:21pm
ernest_t_bass's avatar

ernest_t_bass

12th Son of the Lama

24,984 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:25 PM
krambman;378155 wrote: Facebook - Has grown to be one of the world's biggest websites in just over 6 years and now has over 400 users worldwide.

Jun 3, 2010 3:25pm
M

MontyBrunswick

Jun 3, 2010 3:27 PM
Why is Twitter on here? Get that shit off.
Jun 3, 2010 3:27pm
4cards's avatar

4cards

Ohio Chatter Legend

2,551 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:42 PM
......duhh, Ohio Chatter is the correct answer.
Jun 3, 2010 3:42pm
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

17,977 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:44 PM
ebay
Jun 3, 2010 3:44pm
sonofsam's avatar

sonofsam

Wee' Gonna Win..

2,052 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:56 PM
Redskinschop.com
Jun 3, 2010 3:56pm
C

cbus4life

Ignorant

2,849 posts
Jun 3, 2010 3:56 PM
Google, without a doubt.

All the others are hugely important, obviously, but none can compare to Google.
Jun 3, 2010 3:56pm
j_crazy's avatar

j_crazy

7 gram rocks. how i roll.

8,372 posts
Jun 3, 2010 4:05 PM
Google, and it's not even close.
Jun 3, 2010 4:05pm
T

trackandccrunner

Senior Member

1,283 posts
Jun 3, 2010 4:20 PM
Google and its not close. You could probably combine all the other websites greatness that are listed and Google would still beat them.
Jun 3, 2010 4:20pm
C

cbus4life

Ignorant

2,849 posts
Jun 3, 2010 4:36 PM
trackandccrunner;378259 wrote:Google and its not close. You could probably combine all the other websites greatness that are listed and Google would still beat them.

This.
Jun 3, 2010 4:36pm
Laley23's avatar

Laley23

GOAT

29,506 posts
Jun 3, 2010 4:45 PM
Google. But I consider it a search engine and not a website, so I voted for Facebook.
Jun 3, 2010 4:45pm
Curly J's avatar

Curly J

Self Pwner in Training.

7,282 posts
Jun 3, 2010 4:55 PM
Rotten.com
Jun 3, 2010 4:55pm
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

Senior Member

2,935 posts
Jun 3, 2010 4:56 PM
Google? What about www.Booble.com? Winner!
Jun 3, 2010 4:56pm
S

Swamp Fox

Senior Member

2,218 posts
Jun 3, 2010 6:35 PM
Google
Jun 3, 2010 6:35pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Jun 3, 2010 7:02 PM
If your answer is Google, then your answer SHOULD have been Yahoo. And if you answered EBAY, then your answer probably SHOULD have been Amazon.

My answer is CNN.com.
Jun 3, 2010 7:02pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Jun 3, 2010 7:05 PM
It's wikipedia and it isn't even close.
Jun 3, 2010 7:05pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Jun 3, 2010 7:09 PM
I Wear Pants;378393 wrote:It's wikipedia and it isn't even close.

Yep, I read that on wikipedia, so it must be true! :)
Jun 3, 2010 7:09pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Jun 3, 2010 7:18 PM
Right, the whole wikipedia isn't accurate thing.

It is as accurate for the most part and much more up to date than any other encyclopedia.

That said, should you cite it as a source in an academic paper? Nope. But it can be a good jumping point especially if you know how to use it's cited articles.
Jun 3, 2010 7:18pm
N

NilesPacMan

Senior Member

452 posts
Jun 3, 2010 7:31 PM
I Wear Pants;378401 wrote:Right, the whole wikipedia isn't accurate thing.

It is as accurate for the most part and much more up to date than any other encyclopedia.

That said, should you cite it as a source in an academic paper? Nope. But it can be a good jumping point especially if you know how to use it's cited articles.

Bingo. As a high school student told repeatedly that Wikipedia isn't a good source, I quickly realized that the cited articles from the website are very useful. Most statistics on the site have some kind of source, and that makes it a good collection of sources. Most of my fellow students laughed when I told them Wikipedia is an excellent tool when looking for information, it's just not citable itself.

That said, I vote for Youtube.
Jun 3, 2010 7:31pm
sleeper's avatar

sleeper

Legend

27,879 posts
Jun 3, 2010 7:35 PM
Wikipedia contains less errors than hard copy encyclopedias. The reason colleges don't count it as a valid source because it means their libraries aren't being used and if the libraries aren't being used, they will lose funding and you can take that to the bank.
Jun 3, 2010 7:35pm
M

MontyBrunswick

Jun 3, 2010 8:21 PM
sleeper;378411 wrote:Wikipedia contains less errors than hard copy encyclopedias. The reason colleges don't count it as a valid source because it means their libraries aren't being used and if the libraries aren't being used, they will lose funding and you can take that to the bank.

LOL. A+++ Post.
Jun 3, 2010 8:21pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Jun 3, 2010 8:25 PM
It contains more errors of style and grammar than it does of factual fallacies.
Jun 3, 2010 8:25pm