The Best of 2011

by David Brown

Soon this year will fade like a sunset over the ocean.
What is the "best of 2011"? It's not the economy, for sure. However, in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis and political upheavals in the Mideast, there have been some very strong changes going on in my favorite domain: the internet. The best of 2011 is how the internet is changing the way we live, communicate, keep updated on news, choose entertainment, stay mobile and connected, and share in the new social media world.

These rapid changes can be so dramatic that we may not see how powerful they are until we look back in retrospect. The article published today  "Why 2011 will be Defined by Social Media Democracy"  by Ekaterina Walter is a good example. This article shows the power of social media when used as a tool for democratic change (i.e. The Arab Spring, Egypt). "Besides bank defaults and credit downgrades, 2011 will be remembered for the rise of social media democracy in countries traditionally ruled by autocratic governments — most notably, the Arab Spring." 


So the best of 2011 in general, in my opinion, are certain innovations and changes that happened and are continuing to happen with the internet. A prime example of this is the 2011 Mashable Awards representing the best of 2011 nominations lists in this highly rated blog with over 500,000 fans on Facebook. Not only are these nomination lists an easy view of some of the top movers and shakers in the social media and internet innovations sphere, but they also can provide you with new resources that you may not have known about until now. View the Mashable Awards 2011 home page with the categories and nominations for Tech, Business, Entertainment, and Social Media.  


Another strong "best of" list that is not titled the same are the Top 100 blogs listed by Technorati, another aggregator site of news and internet resources.  Technorati is the authority on the "blogosphere"- all blogs that are notable in all the major and minor news categories. The top 100 are determined by the Technorati Authority, a standard of metrics and measurements that determine a blog's ranking on their list based on influence, links, references by third parties, and other factors. View the Top 100 Blogs page .


If you do a Google search for the best of 2011 you will see a list - some more authoritative than others -
and can browse accordingly. An example is Time Magazine's Best websites of 2011.


Finally, click this link to see a graph published by Hootsuite showing the top ten Twitter trends of 2011.


We will see more "best of 2011" as we get closer to the New Year. I look forward to see who wins the Mashable awards, and may post these later. For now, best wishes for safe and happy holidays.
- David Brown
Blogger, owner, Logion Web Design
Publisher www.LikesTweetsandSEO.com