The 2009 TIME 100

[Dimmauk]

So I got this issue of Time the other day, and I always think its interesting who gets nominated and who writes about them. Like the Twitter guys written by Ashton Kutcher.

Then I get to this page, and I LOL'd hard

moot
By Rick Astley
http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoess...uence/moot.jpg

Back in the '80s, I was known for being reclusive, often shying away from media attention. It's perhaps ironic that the Internet phenomenon of Rickrolling should bring my video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" to a new generation. But that's one of the great things about the Internet. Young people now have easy access to material that they ordinarily wouldn't have been exposed to.

Before I heard about moot — the mysterious 21-year-old creator of the influential Web message board 4chan.org, who just happened to win TIME.com's online poll to determine the world's most influential people — I used to think some young kid had stumbled across my video and thought it would be funny to send it to his mates, and it just kind of caught on. I suppose at first I was a little embarrassed by it. I always liken it to when people look through their photo albums or home videos from 20 years ago and think, Gosh, did I really wear that? The difference is, thankfully on the one hand and perhaps a bit scarily on the other, mine are out there for the public to see whenever they want. I find some Rickrolls really funny. Have you seen the one with President Barack Obama? Someone has cut up his speeches and put them together so that he sings "Never Gonna Give You Up." It's totally amazing. I find it bonkers, by the way!

I visited New York last fall to do a surprise live Rickroll as part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I thought it would be a really good and funny thing to be a part of. I called up a few of my friends in the States, and they said, "You've got to do it!" So I did! Thanks, moot.

Astley was voted by Internet users Best Act Ever at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards

Fast Fact: Moot's 4chan.org gets 13 million page views a day and 5.6 million visitors a month

Here is the Entire list
Complete List - The 2009 TIME 100 - TIME
List

Spoiler: show

Leaders & Revolutionaries

* Edward Kennedy
* Gordon Brown
* Christine Lagarde
* Thomas Dart
* Avigdor Lieberman
* Joaquín Guzmán
* Nouri al-Maliki
* Hillary Clinton
* Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
* Boris Johnson
* Norah al-Faiz
* Elizabeth Warren
* Paul Kagame
* Nicolas Sarkozy
* Angela Merkel
* Wang Qishan
* Xi Jinping
* David McKiernan
* Ashfaq Kayani
* Barack Obama

Builders & Titans

* The Twitter Guys
* T. Boone Pickens
* Ted Turner
* Tessa Ross
* Carlos Slim
* Brad Pitt
* Meredith Whitney
* Suze Orman
* Lauren Zalaznick
* Timothy Geithner
* Nandan Nilekani
* Stella McCartney
* Jamie Dimon
* Sheila Bair
* moot
* Alexander Medvedev
* Alan Mulally
* Robin Chase
* Jack Ma
* Bernie Madoff

Artists & Entertainers

* Rush Limbaugh
* M.I.A.
* Sam and Dan Houser
* Kate Winslet
* Werner Herzog
* William Kentridge
* Penélope Cruz
* Lang Lang
* John Legend
* Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio
* Gustavo Dudamel
* Jeff Kinney
* Tavis Smiley
* The View
* Zac Efron
* Tina Fey
* Tom Hanks
* Jay Leno
* A.R. Rahman
* Judith Jamison

Heroes & Icons

* Michelle Obama
* Chesley B. Sullenberger
* Richard Phillips
* Seth Berkley
* Michael Eavis
* Leonard Abess
* Hadizatou Mani
* Rick Warren
* Van Jones
* Somaly Mam
* Rafael Nadal
* Suraya Pakzad
* Jeff Bezos
* Tiger Woods
* George Clooney
* Brady Gustafson
* Sister Mary Scullion
* Oprah Winfrey
* Sarah Palin
* Manny Pacquiao

Scientists & Thinkers

* Nouriel Roubini
* Amory Lovins
* Jon Favreau
* Dambisa Moyo
* Dan Barber
* Yoichiro Nambu
* Roland Fryer
* Martin Lindstrom
* Barbara Hogan
* David Sheff
* Steven Chu
* Paul Krugman
* Connie Hedegaard
* Daniel Nocera
* Stephan Schuster and Webb Miller
* Nicholas Christakis
* Doug Melton
* Paul Ekman
* Shai Agassi
* Nate Silver

[Stumblingdrunk]

not really surprised that the entire blurb he wrote was about himself, and not moot..

[Dimmauk]

not really surprised that the entire blurb he wrote was about himself, and not moot..

Yeah, I guess cause there isnt much to say. It really caught me off gaurd. I almost felt like I was being rickroll'd again.

[Stumblingdrunk]

Yeah, I guess cause there isnt much to say. It really caught me off gaurd. I almost felt like I was being rickroll'd again.

indeed

[ertyu]

I'm confused about this though. They said moot won but they foiled the attempts of the cheating, how else in hell did he win? 4chan doesn't get THAT many hits in one month.

[Isiolia]

not really surprised that the entire blurb he wrote was about himself, and not moot..

Well, yes and no. He wrote about how moot influenced him, or at least, how internet trends have influenced him, particularly rickrolling (for obvious reasons).

Given that 4Chan is the origin for so many memes like that, there's a sort of logical connection there. Relate what it is moot (or at least, facilitates) by tying it to something people may have heard of.

Could he have done a better job of emphasizing that though? Definitely.

[quannum]

I'm confused about this though. They said moot won but they foiled the attempts of the cheating, how else in hell did he win? 4chan doesn't get THAT many hits in one month.

they were wrong.