krambman;378155 wrote: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.

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.

krambman;378770 wrote:No encyclopedia should be cited as a legitimate source for any academic paper after the eighth grade. Encyclopedias are sources of general knowledge and should all be used only as a starting point, never as a real source of citable information.

I Wear Pants;378778 wrote:Well yeah, but most people criticize Wikipedia as not being a "real" encyclopedia when in many ways it surpasses the other options out there. Especially in the availability and breadth of topics covered as well as it's up to date-ness.

I think that while Google is the most successful of those companies/sites that Wikipedia is the most important one. There were search engines before Google. Never before has there been such a comprehensive and constantly evolving way of obtaining knowledge that was free to all. Especially when you consider it in the context of the Amazon Kindle. It has a web browser with free cellular data. It is basically only good for text and simple images. Wikipedia is this. Wikipedia+Amazon Kindle = real life Hitch Hikers Guide To the Galaxy.