Last year, SawHorse Media, a Twitter aggregator that pioneered the concept of lists, put together the Shorty Awards. This contest and ceremony was intended to “honor the best producers of short, real-time content.”
The first show was such a success that SawHorse is currently producing a second event. Like the Webbies, the Streamys and other award shows for online content, this event will recognize the geeky heroes we probably follow more than we do real-world celebrities – the ones who make us laugh, think and act. Voting is now open in 27 categories; read on to see who’s making the grade.
Categories range in scope from serious topics such as government, health and politics and to lighter fare such as music, culture, celebrities and humor. There are also a few geek-centric topics, such as tech, science and apps. Additionally, SawHorse has allowed users to create crowd-sourced categories, such as sexiest Twitterer and social media.
The awards are given based on each content creator’s whole Twitter oeuvre, not just a single tweet. Any Twitter user with a valid, active account can nominate and vote; votes are sent out as tweets from that user’s account. Next month, the nominees will be narrowed to five per category and referred to the hilariously named Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences for final judging.
Although the Academy has a spoofy name, it includes such distinguished members as MIT Media Lab’s director, Frank Moss, and Creative Commons CEO Joi Ito, among other luminaries.
Last year’s special guests included MC Hammer and Gary Vaynerchuk. There’s no word yet on who will be speaking and presenting at this year’s show, but we do know the ceremony will be held in March in New York City, and winners will be giving 140-character acceptance speeches.
Check out the site and vote for or nominate your favorite tweeters, from ShitMyDadSays to David Archuleta. And we’d appreciate a vote for ReadWriteWeb in the tech category, if you’re so inclined!
