Alba and Obama win Webby Awards
‘Game of Thrones’ bags Best Overall Social Presence category
This combination of file photos shows actress Jessica Alba (left), and US First Lady Michelle Obama. Actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba and US First Lady
Michelle Obama were among celebrities and technology titans honored April 26, with Webby Awards for ‘Excellence on the Internet’. (AFP)
SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, (Agencies): Actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba and US First Lady Michelle Obama were among celebrities and technology titans honored Tuesday with Webby Awards for “excellence on the Internet.”
The winners were announced ahead of the 20th Annual Webby Awards ceremony that will take place in New York City on May 16.
The awards show is portrayed by some as a technology world spin on the Oscars and is known for inspiring wit by limiting acceptance speeches to no more than five words.
Alba will be the first person honored as Webby Entrepreneur of the Year, a result of her role as a co-founder of The Honest Company, which has developed into an empire selling household products made “without hurting people or the planet.”
Michelle Obama won two awards in an Online Film and Video category for parts in Funny or Die and CollegeHumor videos.
News satire outlet The Onion was singled out for a Webby Lifetime Achievement award for having won a record-high 39 Webby Awards in a humor category.
Movement
Founders of #BlackLivesMatter are to accept a Social Movement of the Year award on behalf of “one of the most powerful international civil rights movements in history,” according to organizers. An award for breakout film of the year will go to creators of “chilling and wildly popular” Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer.”
Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and feature winners picked by a panel of judges, as well as those who get top votes online for “People’s Voice” awards.
Entries
Nearly 13,000 entries were submitted for consideration this year from more than 70 countries, according to organizers.
Rival television talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel won Webby and People’s Voice awards, as did “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
“Game of Thrones” ruled in a Best Overall Social Presence category, while YouTube Music Awards trumped as the best music video channel.
NASA, Tinder, HBO Now, Yahoo-owned micro-blogging platform Tumblr, and a “Crash” game tailored for Google Cardboard virtual reality were also among Webby winners, as was a “Love has no Labels” diversity and inclusion campaign.
Streaming radio service Spotify, Vice Media, National Geographic, TED and Google were among eight winners of multiple Webby Awards.
Organizers promised that the “star-studded” awards ceremony will be available on-demand at webbyawards.com starting May 17.
Judges for the awards were Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Instagram’s Eva Chen, Questlove, Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and Susan P. Crawford. More than 2 million votes were cast from Internet fans for the Webby People’s Voice Awards.