What's hot online? Or at the least, what should you be in the know about, especially if you're in the media? Here to help with its annual checklist of online must-knows is The Guardian's "100 Essential Websites."
The creators note plenty of familiar players here -- Facebook, Twitter, Flickr -- as well as some we may be hearing more about in 2010, such as Tumblr, Posterous, Listorious, Spotify and Pitchfork.
As the article notes: "... The smash hit of 2009 has been (apologies: I know this will cause pain) Twitter, where 1,000-word stories are reduced to 140-character tweets. Short attention spans R us.
"Twitter's rapid growth and open programming interface have given the site a wide impact. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of ancillary sites and services have been launched to help Twitter users post pictures, track followers, or – more usefully, from a commercial point of view – find out what the "hive mind" is thinking."And what about music?
"Music has been a significant player in the growth of the web since Napster, and its influence continues to grow. Spotify has made the biggest impact this year, gaining mindshare lost by Last.fm and Pandora. Meanwhile, Pitchfork has expanded its role as the web's authoritative music magazine, and The Hype Machine came to prominence as a source of instant erudition by tracking the music blogs."The list has something for everyone, with categories ranging from microblogging, search and the link economy to gaming, film and celebrity gossip.
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