The Most Important People on the Web

Earlier yesterday morning, PC World came out with a list of the 50 most important people on the web, trying to gauge who exactly is “making the biggest impact online.” Now, I’m all for curated lists and rankings, but I had an issue with a list that puts Tila Nguyen ahead of people like Evan Williams and Jason Kottke, unless it is a list of gorgeous Asian women. Because then Ev and Kottke don’t quite make the cut.

Not to dismiss the accomplishments of the people on the list, but there were some seriously contentious choices made when PC World was compiling the list. People like Tila and Perez Hilton (or even Ron Wyden and DVD-Jon) are surely making an impact on the web, but privileging them in a top-50 list over people like Heather Champ and Ze Frank just rubs me the wrong way.

In an effort to see some justice, here are a few people that dominate in my spheres of the web, and that the PC World article seem to have missed out on:

Scott Kveton, CEO of JanRain
If OpenID is the future of identity management on the web (and I strongly believe it is), the best ambassadors to bring it to the general world are Scott and his team at JanRain. Not only are they strong supporters (and leading developers) of the OpenID protocol, they also have created one of the most addictive social web apps out there: Jyte.

Jason Kottke, Blogger extraordinaire
For years, bloggers all around the world have striven to be as good as Jason Kottke, all to no avail. The true king of the blogosphere, Kottke produces fantastic content, insightful commentary, and the best links anywhere on the internet. Without Kottke, the web would be a much less interesting place.

Tim Shore, Publisher of the FreshDaily network
Let’s call Tim Shore the Jason Calacanis or the Nick Denton of Canada. He is the publisher of three of the most engaging and interesting weblogs in the country, employs a large stable of fascinating and astute writers in three different cities, and may be almost single-handedly responsible for the rise of the cityblog in Canada. Plus, I used to write for blogTO.

Heather Champ, Community Manager at Flickr
Flickr has long been known as a wonderful web application, but it is worth remembering that Flickr is not simply a photo hosting application; it is, instead a photo sharing site. Sites with such a strong emphasis on the social network need people to keep that network vibrant and effective, and that’s where Heather Champ comes in. Not only is she a fantastic photographer, but Heather has a pulse on the Flickr community which she then uses to create stronger and more meaningful social relationships for everyone on the site.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook
Forget about MySpace, all the cool kids have a Facebook account. Nobody emails anymore, the Facebook wall takes care of that. Events are organized, links are shared, opinions are discussed, and people hook up all through Facebook, and its pervasiveness seems to be growing every minute. Mark has created a killer app, and the fact that new (albeit small) innovation happens on the site every day means that the people that work with Mark truly care about their application.

Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel and Richard Jones, Founders of Last.fm
Radio on the web has gone through many phases, and though I used to be a big fan of Yahoo!’s Launch, Last.fm is the one place where internet radio comes to life. Part social networking tool and part recommendation engine, Felix, Martin, and Richard’s application is connecting people across the world and bringing some much needed exposure to new and coming artists. And it also provides me with hours of new music to listen to every day.

Frank Warren, Creator and curator of PostSecret
I’ve sent in two postcards to the site, and even bought the book. And can you blame me? Frank Warren’s postcard project is a cultural sensation, blending art and creativity with confessions and personal catharsis. And the premise is so simple, you can’t help but wonder why nobody had thought of this before Warren: get people to write their secrets on postcards and send them in anonymously, then post them on a free Blogger blog. Warren proves that sometimes the most genius of ideas are the most obvious ones.

Evan Williams, Founder of Obvious Corp
Part of the team that created Blogger, Odeo, and Twitter, Evan Williams has been coming up with the most interesting and productive ways for me to waste my precious time for years. And for that, I thank Ev — except for the whole wasting time bit. Constantly someone that is willing to think outside the box (I hate using that phrase, but its true), identify needs on the web, and create products that meet those needs, Ev has changed the way people interact with technology and people online.

Gina Trapani, Editor of Lifehacker
She may just be the editor of a blog in Nick Denton’s stable, but Gina leads up a blog that not only has a loyal following, but can actually change your life — most of the time for the better. Capitalizing on the Getting Things Done phenomenon, Lifehacker shows people how to live more effectively and efficiently, all under the guidance of Gina’s astute knowledge of tech and time.

Ze Frank, Creator and host of The Show
We will all be sad when Ze Frank records the last episode of The Show later this month, but I know for sure that whatever this man does next will be equally as innovative and intriguing. Attaining surprising popularity with his videocast about…well, anything going on in the world, Ze Frank has been creating humor videos for years and has been inspiring other people around him to do the same.

Ryan North, Creator of Dinosaur Comics
I often hear that the best comics are the ones where the writing and storytelling is wondrous, and not the drawings themselves. This is perfectly proven in North’s Dinosaur Comics, where he uses the exact same panels every day to tell a new story. Drawing from his conversations in real life, North keeps you laughing with T-Rex’s philosophical banter and the sheer hilarity of a comic that seems fresh every single time, despite looking the same.

There’s so many more to mention, so I’ll just stop here because I’m getting tired of typing. In the end, what I’m trying to say is that those top-50 lists, even when they are compiled by reputable sources like PC World, are entirely subjective. The web is what you make it, and the people that are important on your web are definitely not the same people that are important to me.