A list of the most 'Influential Websites'

[Destructionator XV]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/s ... 63,00.html

I disagree with many of these, and will explain that below. What do you think the most influential websites are?


There are many sites on that list that I have never even heard of, and the rating seems to be more on popularity than actually being influential. Influential should mean it has had a significant impact on how things are done down the line and a serious effect on the real world.

eBay? OK, it has become a big enough thing and changed how some people do business entirely. It deserves a place on the list.

Wikipedia? I don't think it should be as high as they put it. It is a quick reference, and inspired some other hobbyist wikis, but no one takes it seriously out in the real world. It is not going to change how research is done, it is not going to change how encyclopedias are written, and the content itself? Not trustworthy. The only influence it actually has is on the poor folks who think it is a respectable source of information, which is enough to make the list, but not enough to be #2.

Napster? I'll give them this one. Sure, without napster, the RIAA would have started their attacks somewhere else, but since Napster was he one that kicked it all off, it is important enough.

YouTube? Please. It is just yet another file sharing site. Wildly popular yes, but not revolutionary or influential.

Blogger I'll give because, like Napster, it was there first, and kicked off something significant.

friendsreunited? Never heard of it. That in itself makes me question how important it really is in the big picture. It might be popular, but if it were influential, I would imagine I would have read about it somewhere, or saw it on the TV news at least once.

Drudge Report. I don't like it myself, but I'll be willing to let it have a place on the list since it did something new (at the time) and has expanded signficantly enough to be noticed outside the Internet.

MySpace? Now, there is a collosal waste of bandwidth, but let's not get ahead of myself. Sure, it is wildly popular among the young folk, and it did get some other social networking stuff going, all of which is insignificant to the real world. As much as I hate it, it does get a place on the list, but I would not have placed it so high. Within the next couple years, I will bet you it will be like it never existed.

No objections to Amazon.

Slashdot? I think it deserves a place here. While it is mostly populated by uneducated trolls, it certainly does have an influence, so much that an Internet phonemon is named after it: the Slashdot effect, which can bring almost any site to its knees. It might not be a big deal in the real world, but it has had enough effect on the Internet to make the list.

Salon.com? Never heard of it, but given the founding date there, it might deserve it, I don't know.

Craigslist? Again, very popular, but has it really been influential? I don't think so.

Google earned its place.

Yahoo, I'll also grant.

easyjet.com? Never heard of it, but from the description they gave, they defended the choice to put it on the list well enough for me.

[Dartzap]

Afew of em are British/European ones Destro, there was anouther recent one that was very US centric and this was the attemtpt to rectify that, theres a fair few Europeans getting a bit naffed off at the US dominence of everything

[Narsil]

You might also notice that the site is a UK one, not an American one, and it's targeted towards the British people, not Americans. I would agree with the list because they are rather influential and popular in Great Britain (unfortunately so in some cases, with Myspace).