Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" 2nd Draft

Many people live in this world, and most of them are busy taking care of their own lives. However, some people go further to affect other people’s lives. They have a great influence on the crowd, actually affecting their lives. Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” chooses a person who had the greatest influence on the world each year. It doesn’t matter whether they had a positive influence or negative influence. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, was named “Person of the Year” of 2010. The controversy starts about the appropriateness of Zuckerberg as “Person of the Year”. Some people argue that he is not the one. However, I say that there is no problem with Mark Zuckerberg being the “Person of the Year”.

First, we have to know who exactly Mark Zuckerberg is and who his best competitor is. Zuckerberg created Facebook which is a social network. This brought a sensation to the entire world. It is easy to use and very convenient to talk with friends online. Now, lots of people in the whole world use Facebook to keep in touch with their friends. Also, there is even a movie called “Social Network” which is about the creation of Facebook. With these facts, we can easily assume that Mark had a great influence on the world.

Then, who is his best competitor? Julian Assange, the spokesperson and the editor in chief of Wikileaks, was considered to be one of the candidates for the “Person of the Year”. Wikileaks is an international non-profit organization that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources and news leaks. Actually, Julian Assange received far more votes than Mark Zuckerberg. However, for some reason, Zuckerberg was named the “Person of the Year” instead of Assange who was later named as the reader’s choice of “Person of the Year”.

Because of this reason, some people argue that Julian Assange should have won the title. We have to mainly discuss two things to pick who is the best fit. First, we have to talk about how much they influenced the world. Zuckerberg influenced many people from various countries by making a social network that connects people.

For example, I didn’t use Facebook at first. However, people kept pressuring me to join, and I was surprised when I first started. There were many people I knew, and even my friends in the US who I wasn’t able to previously keep in touch with, unfortunately. Zuckerberg once said, "The thing that we are trying to do at Facebook, is just help people connect and communicate more efficiently." Moreover, Jesse Eisenberg who met Zuckerberg at Saturday Night Live said, "WHO is this guy who is really shaping a large part of the socialization of the world? It is interesting to read about him. And you know, I'm not surprised that he has become so know."

In contrast, Julian Assange was not as sensational as Facebook. In fact, many people, including myself, did not know about Assange before writing this essay. It is true that Assange had a big impact on American society, but his popularity is somewhat limited to the US.

Next, there are some other issues rather than just how much they influenced the world. There can be political features, economical features and some other features to be considered with careful attention. If we consider this matter with all these factors, it is clear that it is hard for Julian Assange to be Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”. For example, if we consider with economical aspect, Zuckerberg was far more influential than Assange. Facebook created stronger economic effect than Wikileaks. Another example would be the political impact. Politically, Julian Assange and his Wikileaks are nuisances to the US. Wikileaks reveals private, secret, and classified media from anonymous sources and news leaks. Assagne once said, "What does censorship reveal? It reveals fear." Furthermore, Assange is considered to be a dangerous man to the US. Daniel Ellsberg, an admirer of Assange who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers, said, "I'm sure that Assange is now regarded as one of the very most dangerous men and he should be proud of that." In contrast, Facebook enables easier communication between people which helps the idea of democracy in some way. Clearly, Time Magazine, which is major media in the US, would prefer Zuckerberg to Assange.

It is true that Assange received far more votes and higher ratings than Zuckerberg. However, Time Magazine made the right choice. Wikileaks had a big influence, but Zuckerberg and his Facebook were much more influential to the entire world. Facebook was some kind of a revolution to the previously existing social networks. There have been many conflicts about who should be the “Person of the Year” and some people even doubt the award itself. However, Time Magazine made the right choice in choosing Zuckerberg as “Person of the Year”. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook which created a sensation to the world of communication, deserves this award.