This is a graphical representation of the internet. See if you can find the Inductive.Believe it or not, the decade is almost over.  It seems like only yesterday we were complaining about Jar Jar Binks and stockpiling canned goods and guns in preparation for Y2K, but today is November 23rd, 2009; there are only 38 days left in the decade that we still can't agree on a name for, much less an image.  Going back in time, we have clear images from the 1920s (flappers, gangsters, and jazz) to the 1990s (pastels, CDs, and hip hop), but this current decade is different, maybe because most of us haven't left our rooms, or maybe just because we haven't distanced ourselves in time enough to construct false, catalogued memories. 

A friend and I were discussing the idea of decades last week.  We agreed that the concept was an absurd attempt at stereotype, like the "Dark Ages", which were largely the creation of anti-Catholic 17th-century historians.  But there is something to historicity, whether that something is nostalgia or embarrassment.  Indeed, many of our images of particular decades are just plain mistaken.  For example, the hippie culture, so quintessentially 60s, actually peaked in the 1970s.  The political correctness zeitgeist grew to prominence in 1980s - not the 90s.  The Japanese stock market, harbinger of the 1980s, hit its peak on December 29th, 1989, and Japan was still the most expensive country in the world in 1995.  The 50s rock and roll songs "Louie Louie", "Surf City", and "Walk Like a Man" were released in 1963, just two years before "Satisfaction", "Like a Rolling Stone", and "My Generation".  The Beegee's "Jive Talkin'" and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" competed in the same billboard chart in 1975.

My friend and I seemed to agree that the years 2000 through 2009 would probably be most remembered for the growth and personalization of the Internet, but given the previous examples, in 40 years we could be talking about the "aughts" in terms of preppy clothes (90s trend) or sheer-fabric clothes (2010 - 2019 trend according to fashionising.com).  Recently, the Webby Awards released a list of "Top Ten Influential Internet Moments of the Decade", but, for a generation that largely spent its formative years searching for new ways to download pirated music and video, this list could effectively be the "Top Ten Moments of the Decade".  In chronological order these are:

1. In 2000, Craigslist expands outside San Francisco, allowing unprecedented access to classifieds on a national level.

2. Also in 2000, Google AdWords launches, making it easier for small businesses to advertise and for small websites to raise revenue.

3. In 2001, Wikipedia launches, revolutionizing the way we get information.

4. Also in 2001, Napster is shut down, starting a technology race that puts the criminals two steps ahead of the law to this day.

5. Google IPOed in 2004, allowing the company to transform itself from just another search engine into Big Brother.

6. 2006 marks what the Webbies refer to as the "online video revolution," in which faster bandwidth, cheaper recording devices, and YouTube joined forces to create a boom in the importance of video information on the internet. 

7. Facebook expands past college students and Twitter takes off in 2006, allowing regular people to inform the world that if George W. Bush isn't impeached soon, they're moving to Canada.

8. In 2007, iPhone debuts. 

9. The 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign uses the internet like none before.  Candidates like Barack Obama and Ron Paul become household names, while videos of Sarah Palin being exorcized and Obama dancing to Rick Astley circulate.

10. Just a few months ago, Twitter allowed personal film footage of the Iranian riots following the doctored elections to circulate over the internet.  The Obama Administration asked Twitter to delay maintenance to avoid cutting off tweets from the protest.

Overall the Webby Awards created an excellent list that really puts the decade in perspective.  From jobs to research to sharing information about our lives to politics, the internet has defined the "zeros" like nothing else.  With so much having been accomplished on the internet in the last ten years, I wonder what the next ten years could possibly have in store, but if I knew that, I'd be a billionaire.

I think, however, it's worth qualifying the Webby Awards's list with a warning: the 2008 election marks the first time politicians really began using the web for campaigning.  Around the same time, the internet began to challenge big media business and big media bit back.  Google and AT&T are currently engaged in all-out warfare over the future of the internet.  Politicians have tried to regulate both the format and the content of the internet in the past.  No doubt, there will be more threats to the internet from politicians and their big-business allies in the future. 

As especially highlighted by the Iranian Twitter protests, the power of the internet lies in its promotion of freedom.  While recent MySpace-related bullying has resulted in teen suicides, and ever since the days of AOL chatrooms, the internet has been a haven for perverts, the internet has never hurt or killed anyone.  The internet is a great human frontier for creativity where anyone can succeed if they have the drive and a good idea - the internet is invention's wild wild west.  As such, it will be important in the next decade to keep the internet out of the hands of politicians and business leaders who seek to impose their wills upon and control digital "serfs".