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May 7, 2008
In celebration of truthinessThis year’s "Webby Person of the Year" goes to the "Greatest Living American," Stephen Colbert. He will be honored for his innovative and successful use of the internet to interact with fans of "The Colbert Report". The Webbys are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (yes, this is the online equivalent of the Oscars, and no, BoardBuzz was not nominated this year.) to honor excellence in over 100+ website, interactive advertising, online film & video, and mobile categories, but let's get back to Stephen Colbert. Why him?
Truthiness, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Truthiness is a word that U.S. television comedian Stephen Colbert popularized in 2005 as a satirical term to describe things that a person claims to know intuitively or "from the gut" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. Colbert popularized this definition of the word during the inaugural (pilot) episode (October 17, 2005) of his satirical television program The Colbert Report, as the subject of a segment called "The Wørd". It was named Word of the Year for 2005 by the American Dialect Society and for 2006 by Merriam-Webster.
Colbert later challenged the "truthiness" of Wikipedia. On July 31, 2006, Colbert defined "Wikiality" (a portmanteau of "Wikipedia" and "reality") as "truth by consensus" (rather than fact), modeled after the approval-by-consensus format of Wikipedia. He ironically praised Wikipedia for following his philosophy of "truthiness," that intuition and consensus is a better reflection of reality than fact, while editing two articles on Wikipedia to his liking (Oregon and George Washington). As he stated, "if enough people believe something," it must be true.
Google bombing, courtesy of News.com:
Google bombing, in case you're unfamiliar, is a method of directing mass links that contain a particular line of text to a certain site, which then bolsters that site's ranking on Google when that line of text is used as a search query. The most famous Google bomb was probably "miserable failure," which directed to George W. Bush's presidential biography for quite some time before Google switched a few algorithms around in order to eliminate the verbal pranks.
Not to be upstaged by Bush, Colbert announced on his show last year his desire to be first in Google's search results for a phrase that is probably better left off BoardBuzz (Let's just say,it's a bit of Colbert's). Colbert fans, however, took it upon themselves to place him at the top of Google's hierarchy for the phrase "Greatest Living American" instead. They did so by posting comments all over the Web that contained his name and "Greatest Living American." Despite Google's professions that such antics no longer work, "Greatest Living American" now directs searchers to the official Colbert Report website.
And last but certainly not least, DonorsChoose.org:
DonorsChoose.org is dedicated to addressing the scarcity and inequitable distribution of learning materials and experiences in our public schools. We believe this inequity is rooted in the following factors:
- Shortages of learning materials prevent thorough, engaging instruction;
- Top-down distribution of materials stifles our best teachers and discourages them from developing targeted solutions for their students; and
- Small, directed contributions have gone un-tapped as a source of funding. DonorsChoose.org will improve public education by engaging citizens in an online marketplace where teachers describe and individuals can fund specific student projects. We envision a nation where students in every community have the resources they need to learn.
Stephen Colbert was credited with raising more than $250,000 online for this charity. In the fall of 2007, Stephen Colbert filed for the Democratic primary in his native state, South Carolina. On "The Colbert Report," he asked his viewers to show their support for his presidential bid by donating to South Carolina classroom projects via DonorsChoose.org and raised over $66,000 for students in low-income communities! Colbert announced his presidential candidacy on his show, which prompted the "One Million Strong for Stephen T. Colbert" Facebook group to attract more than 78 members per minute in its first week. He later initiated a DonorsChoose Challenge which states, "do Senators Clinton and Obama have the keystones to do for the Keystone State what the Colbert Nation did for the Palmetto State? Let's find out." He challenged his viewers to participate in a "straw poll that makes a difference" by giving to projects in public school classrooms in Pennsylvania. Donors can choose to fund a classroom project "in honor of Hillary Clinton" or "in honor of Barack Obama." Colbert later appeared on NBC's Today to talk about the Challenge:
BoardBuzz congratulates Colbert for his philanthropic efforts, comedic antics, and community engagement—not necessarily in that order. And, yes, satire sells to young adults. For a full list of Webby winners click here and to vote for BoardBuzz in the only award for which we're nominated, click here.
Posted May 7, 2008 4:01 PM | Education Technology
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Comments(2)
Posted by: Justin B. on May 7, 2008 6:43 PM
Nice story ... and funny too. Kudos to Colbert.
Posted by: Andrew on May 9, 2008 10:13 AM
We like to both educate and entertain. Glad you enjoyed it.
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