TIME magazine’s newest issue cover.

Their annual Person Of The Year is always highly anticipated and always causes controversy. Past winners have included the likes of Ghandi, JFK, Hitler, Arafat, Clinton, among many others (the full list is in the link) ..
This year, TIME has picked us as the person of the year. By us I mean myself by writing on this blog, and by you checking this blog, and by everyone else who has participated in changing the face of technology by ….

“bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it’s really a revolution.”

I think this is a perfect choice for this year. Blogs, YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, Facebook, and so on, are just a few examples of the weapons used in this revolution by each of us. And they really have revolutionized the way we live.
This has been proven beyond doubt here in Kuwait especially during this past year. From the passing of the late Emir Shaikh Jaber to the issue of succession of power to the hugely popular issue of the voting districts, all these important events have been monitored very closely and followed and even sometimes initiated by us the Web 2.0 generation!

The effect of internet was so powerful that websites run by young Kuwaitis were able to change the future by getting the people involved and the members of parliament behind them in the Nabeeha 5 campaign. Also, during the days after the late Emir’s passing, the only source of updated, accurate, and unedited information (January) was the internet from Sa7at AlSafat’s website, which was also as influential in the nabeeha 5 campaign, along with many many websites which I cannot name otherwise I will spend another hour writing them all, but you know who you are!

The effect of the internet on how we live and think is something that always interested me, and this year has been exceptional in the effect it has had. You only need to take a quick look at the blogs or YouTube to see how much of an effect these individual contributions have had on our lives.

So, congratulations everyone on your win, and congratulations to TIME for picking a brave choice!