Time honours you as Person of the Year

CONGRATULATIONS! You are the Time magazine Person of the Year.

The 2006 honour went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the internet.

“If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people,” said Richard Stengel, Time’s managing editor. “If you choose millions of people, you don’t have to justify it to anyone.”

The magazine did cite 26 People Who Mattered, from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il to Pope Benedict to US President George W Bush and ex-US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Mr Stengel said if the magazine had gone with an individual, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the likely choice. “It just felt to me a little off selecting him,” he said.

The 2006 “Person of the Year” package hits newstands today. The cover shows a keyboard with a mirror for a computer screen where buyers can see their reflection.

In 1966, the 25-and-under generation was cited; in 1975, US women were named; and in 1982, the computer was chosen.

Last year’s winners were Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono, all for charity work.