Editorial: Congratulations - to You

Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006 | 7:03 a.m.

Take a bow. You deserve it. At least that is what Time magazine thinks.

Time has named "You" the person of the year for 2006, saying that You - those of you in front of the computer (which Time dubbed machine of the year in 1982) - "control the Information Age."

The decision-makers at Time have apparently become infatuated with YouTube, the electronic soapbox for anyone with a computer and a webcam.

If this is what is controlling the Information Age, You - and the rest of us - are in trouble. The Internet is, at best, a hall of mirrors, which Time unwittingly points out on its cover. The Mylar piece shaped like a computer screen to reflect You, the person of the year, gives off a distorted reflection of whoever looks at it, summing up the Internet.

For example, one of the most popular videos on YouTube this past year was the series about Lonelygirl15, a home-schooled teen named Bree struggling to express herself under her restrictive parents' authority. Millions of You watched her saga play out like a gripping drama.

It was a fraud - Bree is an actress, and the Lonelygirl15 clips were professionally written and edited for a planned Internet project.

The Internet is whatever You want it to be, and the You Generation will keep pushing the electronic envelope. You can fool yourself and others by creating your own cyber reality in the online world of Second Life. You can be fooled by any number of scams or predators, such as Nigerians who want to give You money.

Still, it was nice of Time to recognize You.

But be careful.

You don't always know whom You are dealing with, especially now that You are famous.