# YOU are Time Magazine's person of the year. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 17, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471 "2006-12-17T03:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/1 "2006-12-17T03:47:50Z")
> **[TIME Homepage](https://time.com/)** > > Breaking news and analysis from TIME.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science and entertainment news. Lame. The whole cover story is like one of those cell phone ads with these energetic modern people having fun and successful technologically-enhanced lives. What a cheap stunt. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/2 "2006-12-17T04:00:26Z")
The most disorienting thing was the interstitial ad that said, “You might not be the Time Person of the Year…” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/3 "2006-12-17T04:12:28Z")
About freaking time! Oh. You mean everybody else is _also_ Person of the Year. LAME. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/4 "2006-12-17T04:17:19Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Oh. You mean everybody else is _also_ Person of the Year. [/QUOTE] No, I’m pretty sure they mean me. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/5 "2006-12-17T04:18:37Z")
Hmm. I’ll be sure to add this to my résumé. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/6 "2006-12-17T04:20:33Z")
“This is bogus and you, sir, are bogus as well!” - Joe, _Newsradio_ Hey, my Mom has a Master’s and yet has never managed to handle the Internets. Guess she can’t even buy the issue. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/7 "2006-12-17T04:37:50Z")
Take note: If you were (1) born between 1941 and 1966, and (2) live in “middle America,” i.e., not on the coasts, you can now bill yourself as **Three-time _TIME_’s Person of the Year**. In 1966 Time chose the “under 25 generation” and in 1969 it honored the “middle Americans.” This may mean that Bill Clinton, with one award of his own and one shared with Ken Starr, leads the pack with 5 awards (being from Arkansas and born in 1946.) data from [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_the_Year). Congratulations to you middle-aged, non-coastal three-time winners! (I missed it by six years and two hundred miles) Also-- if you were in the U.S. armed forces in 1950 or 2003, or were a U.S. scientist in 1960, you may add one more P.O.T.Y. for each of those. So maybe someone out there can outdo Clinton’s five awards. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/8 "2006-12-17T04:54:43Z")
Drat, **malden** , I was just about to post bragging about my three wins. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/9 "2006-12-17T05:03:12Z")
For the three universities I haven’t submitted applications to yet, I now have something of importance to add. Thank you, _Time_ ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/10 "2006-12-17T05:06:00Z")
“or were a U.S. scientist in 1960” Well, I was once, for twenty minutes…does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/11 "2006-12-17T05:09:04Z")
w000t! My second award! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/12 "2006-12-17T05:15:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Take note: If you were (1) born between 1941 and 1966, and (2) live in “middle America,” i.e., not on the coasts, you can now bill yourself as > > Three-time TIME’s Person of the Year. > > In 1966 Time chose the “under 25 generation” and in 1969 it honored the “middle Americans.” This may mean that Bill Clinton, with one award of his own and one shared with Ken Starr, leads the pack with 5 awards (being from Arkansas and born in 1946.) data from here. > > Congratulations to you middle-aged, non-coastal three-time winners! (I missed it by six years and two hundred miles) > > Also-- if you were in the U.S. armed forces in 1950 or 2003, or were a U.S. scientist in 1960, you may add one more P.O.T.Y. for each of those. So maybe someone out there can outdo Clinton’s five awards. 1975’s “person of the year” was American Women so there’s a lot of four time winners. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/13 "2006-12-17T05:36:30Z")
[QUOTE=Klaatu] “or were a U.S. scientist in 1960” Well, I was once, for twenty minutes…does that count? [/QUOTE] Mariana, is that you? Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/14 "2006-12-17T06:08:23Z")
“Man of the year” has been a complete joke since they did not have the balls to make it Bin Laden in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/15 "2006-12-17T06:33:29Z")
You. people suck. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/16 "2006-12-17T06:40:13Z")
Oh great. Now \*Time \*magazine is comparing me to Hitler! ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/17 "2006-12-17T07:04:48Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] 1975’s “person of the year” was American Women so there’s a lot of four time winners. [/QUOTE] There might be some five-time winners out there, but the chances of finding a female scientist under 25 in 1966 living in Middle America who was either a) in the U.S. armed forces or b) fought the Soviet offensive in Hungary in 1956 is slim to nil. I had researched all of the non-person Persons of the Year for the [other thread on this subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=400422). (It would be theoretically impossible for our hypothetical specimen to be also either a computer or the planet Earth.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/18 "2006-12-17T08:13:13Z")
> [@](#): > > There might be some five-time winners out there, but the chances of finding a female scientist under 25 in 1966 living in Middle America who was either a) in the U.S. armed forces or b) fought the Soviet offensive in Hungary in 1956 is slim to nil. Any living Middle American woman, born between 1941 and 1966, who was a soldier in 2003 is now a five-timer. Offhand, I’d estimate there are hundreds of people who fit that description. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/19 "2006-12-17T18:43:40Z")
Jeez Louise. Talk about a big whoosh. The point of “You” as the Person of the Year is not about us as a population, nor is it intended to be cheerleading for the Internet. It’s about how the Internet has made it possible for anyone with access to a computer and an Internet connection to wrest control of mass media from the large conglomerates and into the hands of individuals. We no longer have to rely on these conglomerates to provide us with news and entertainment. Good, bad or indifferent, anyone can produce content and anyone can receive it. It’s true that many adults don’t do things like read or write blogs or know what a podcast is. The shift is coming from younger people who have essentially grown up with the technology and from adults who have adopted it on our own. The fact is, the Internet represents a significant social shift similar to those that happened when the printing press and radio came into being. So, instead of calling the article a cheap stunt, why don’t you trouble yourself to actually read and try to understand it before you criticize it. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471/20 "2006-12-17T18:45:39Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] (It would be theoretically impossible for our hypothetical specimen to be also either a computer or the planet Earth.) [/QUOTE] What, you mean the message of _We Are the World_ was lost on you?! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-time-magazines-person-of-the-year/384471.md?page=2)