Nominees Announced April 2nd
Honoring the Best
of the Internet

Buzzfeed, Jay Z & Beyonce, The Guardian’s NSA Files Decoded and More Nominated for the 18th Annual Webby Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Anne Muscarella
(212) 918-2044
anne@high10media.com

BUZZFEED, JAY Z & BEYONCE, THE GUARDIAN’S NSA FILES DECODED, BREAKING
BAD, GITHUB, AIRBNB, QUIZ UP, VINE, DOVE’S REAL BEAUTY SKETCHES, BBC AND

MORE NOMINATED FOR THE 18th ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS

Voting for People’s Voice Awards Begins Today at http://pv.webbyawards.com
 

NEW YORK, April 8, 2014 – The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) today announced the nominees for The 18th Annual Webby Awards, which include some of the most highly coveted websites and captivating mobile apps including Medium, Buzzfeed, Airbnb, QuizUp, and Vine as well as some of the year’s most talked-about celebrities like Jay Z, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, and Ellen DeGeneres.

The public has a chance to weigh in on which of the Nominees will reign supreme by casting their votes for the Webby People’s Voice Awards at http://pv.webbyawards.com. Voting is open from now until Thursday, April 24th at 11:59PM/PST. Members of IADAS include Tumblr founder David Karp, Arianna Huffington, House of Cards producers Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti of Trigger Street Productions, and DoSomething founder Nancy Lublin. Winners will be announced on Monday, April 28th.

“This year’s Nominees really start to show the promise of a connected society where our social interactions help shape and enable so much of our daily life,” said David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of The Webby Awards. “We are excited to share these outstanding works with the world and see which ones the public will choose as Webby Winners.”

Not all of the videos that went viral this past year involved cats or inspirational commencement speeches. Videos nominated in the Online Film & Video category include “Worst Twerk Fail EVER,” the epic Internet prank perpetrated by Late Night star Jimmy Kimmel; “24 Hours of Happy,” the world’s first 24-hour music video starring music artist Pharrell Williams; Makers Studios’ parody of singer Robin Thicke’s music video for “Blurred Lines”; and Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” interactive music video.

This year’s Website Nominees – The New York Times, Medium, Tumblr, National Film Board of Canada, and The Guardian’s NSA Files Decoded – continue to showcase the critical role the Internet plays in all facets of global culture.

In the Mobile category, apps and mobile web experiences currently captivating the attention (and fingertips) of smartphone users around the world include the addictive Dots, Type : Rider and Badland; responsive sites like BBC News; and the redesigned NPR.org, which received multiple nods from the Academy.

Many of the Online ads nominated in the Interactive Advertising and Media category received millions of YouTube views. Nominees include the Dodge Durango spot featuring Will Ferrell’s “Ron Burgundy” (Wieden & Kennedy); Volvo’s “The Epic Split” featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme’s amazing feat (Forsman & Bodenfors); Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” (Ogilvy Brasil); and Chipotle’s “The Scarecrow” (Creative Artists Agency). Agencies in contention for the Agency of the year.

This year’s Webby Awards received more than 12,000 entries from all 50 U.S. states and over 60 countries worldwide. From the thousands of global entries submitted to The Webby Awards, only 8% were selected as nominees. Winners will be celebrated at a special ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street on Monday, May 19th, hosted by critically acclaimed actor and comedian Patton Oswalt. This year’s show will be available on demand at webbyawards.com the morning of Tuesday, May 20th. The Webby Awards channel will feature all the show highlights, including special performances as well as the show in its entirety.

Nominees earning multiple nominations include: Vice Media (11) The New York Times (11) Google (9), BBC (9), PBS (9) Funny or Die (8), NPR (7).

The Academy consults with sponsor Deloitte on all rules and processes.

18th Annual Webby Nominee Highlights:

Best Practices

  • NPR
  • PBS Digital
  • Waste Creative
  • The Guardian
  • Google

Overall Social Presence

  • GoPro
  • The Ellen DeGeneres Show
  • BuzzFeed
  • The New York Times
  • Human Rights Campaign

Best User Experience

  • Hulu
  • The New York Times
  • Digitas
  • Medium
  • TripAdvisor

Best Writing (Editorial)

  • Rollingstone.com
  • The Atlantic
  • Wired
  • The New York Times
  • The New Yorker

Best Individual Performance

  • Crackle
  • Michael Shannon Reads the Insane Delta Gamma Sorority Letter
  • The Clash: The Last Gang in Town
  • WIGS
  • Batman Vs The Penguin (with Patton Oswalt)

Best Use of Interactive Video

  • Google Glass Experiment
  • National Film Board of Canada
  • 24 hours of Happy
  • Like a Rolling Stone
  • Tiny Robots

First Person

  • Mental_Floss
  • ItsGrace
  • YouTube Nation
  • Takei’s Take
  • PBS Idea Channel

Online Film & Video Best Writing

  • The Daily Beast
  • Cracked
  • Husbands
  • Burning Love Season 2 & 3
  • Gnu

Mobile City & Urban Innovation

  • Citi Bike App
  • Points – The Most Advanced Street Sign on Earth
  • Pulse Point
  • Run That Town
  • Shade Cinema

Weird

  • cachemonet
  • The .Gifys
  • Textastrophe
  • Stuff to Blow Your Mind
  • Extreme Macro Photography

 

About The Webby Awards
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising & Media, Online Film & Video, Mobile & Apps, and Social. Established in 1996, The Webby Awards received nearly 12,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide this year. The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft, Dell, Vitamin T, MailChimp, Engine Yard, Funny or Die, AdAge, Percolate, BuzzFeed, Mashable, HLN, Business Insider, Internet Week New York and Guardian News and Media.

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