I see that the Webby Awards have been announced, and thank goodness, because I’m bored to tears with them.
The problem is that they still have this daft “People’s Voice Winner,” voted for by the public, in every category alongside the “Webby Award Winner” which is voted for by the illustrious sounding “The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.”
The awards are judged from those that enter. That, like most awards, means an entry fee. And over 100 categories mean lots of potential entry fees (over 10,000 entries in 2008).
Although the “Webbys” [sic] are seemingly global, nearly all the nominees seem to come from the English speaking world. Now perhaps we’re that much ahead of the rest of the world, but I find it a tad unlikely.
Then there are all the ways you can buy your awards, certificates and nominations. Awards are always a profitable business. And it’s not clear to me whether the Webby Awards are profit-making enterprise, or whether they have some kind of charitable status.
But I suppose my main criticism is the People’s Voice category for each award. This is the public vote, and once your site has been nominated, it’s then a bring-out-the-vote affair. The group that enables their audience to vote the most wins. And if you decide you do want to support the site that you visit and give them a vote, you’re also asked to vote for other categories. But have you really been to all those sites nominated? While you’re not forced to vote in other categories, you might well be inclined to vote for the larger more popular groups. Look in any category, and the “People’s Voice” winner will tend to be the most trafficked site. And of course, those sites tend to keep on mentioning that they’d like you to vote for them. It’s nearly enough to drive me away.
Public votes are always a mess. The recent BAFTA TV award determined by a public vote went to Skins – the series with the audience most likely to be digitally enabled and get out the vote.
I suppose we should all understand that it’s a popularity contest, but it’s a bit like awarding the Best Picture Oscar to the film that had the largest box office (2009 is looking like it’ll be Monsters v Aliens at the moment, but we’re only just entering blockbuster season).