Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
Frank Ocean, Jerry Seinfeld, and Kevin Spacey — alongside Minnesota Vikings’ Chris Kluwe, DoSomething.org, and HBO Go — are among the winners and honorees at this year’s 17th Annual Webby Awards, spotlighting achievements in/on the Internet.
This year’s awards were selected by judges in the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, including Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and HuffPo head Arianna Huffington. Internet voters also turned out in more than 200 countries and territories for The Webby People’s Voice Awards.
Ocean, Seinfeld, and Spacey all received breakout or special achievement awards, because they did something bold (Ocean’s ”Thank You’s” letter on his Tumblr, announcing a past relationship with a man), big (Spacey’s role in setting up Netflix’s $100 million Beltway series House of Cards), or very Webby (Seinfeld’s webseries Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, featuring guests Ricky Gervais and Larry David, among others).
Others spotlighted include: The Obama for America 2012 campaign, as Webby Breakout of the Year; Grimes, as Webby Artist of the Year; Bachelor spoof Burning Love and its creative team, as Webby Special Achievement of the Year; Kluwe, as Webby Athlete of the Year, for his open letter to a Maryland state delegate; and Steve Wilhite and his 20-year-plus invention the .GIF, as Webby Lifetime Achievement.
In addition, The Onion received its 18th and 19th Webbys for Best Humor Website.
Ocean ”will be honored for proving the power of the Web as a medium for cultural change,” organizers said in a statement. Yay, Google Maps for iPhone — winner of five Webbys! Yay, Dumb Ways to Die — winner of seven!
Watch some of the winners below. Check out the full list at webbyawards.com. The ceremony, hosted by Patton Oswalt, will be available to view at 9 a.m. ET on May 22.
