Webbys' top internet moments of the decade

The organisers of the Webby Awards have named their 10 most influential internet moments of the decade, spanning the explosion of classifieds website Craigslist to the recent Iranian election protests.

Other notable events were the launch of Wikipedia and the death of Napster, and last year's groundbreaking US presidential campaign.

And in a nod to the explosive growth of YouTube, they acknowledged the "online video revolution" of 2006.

No such list would be complete without mentioning Facebook and Twitter, of course, and Google also featured twice for its AdWords launch in 2000 and IPO three years later.

Webby Awards executive director David-Michel Davies called the internet the "story of the decade", having changed the face of commerce, communication, politics and pop culture.

"The recurring theme among all of the milestones on our list is the internet's capacity to circumvent old systems and put more power into the hands of ordinary people," he said.

The list in full

* Craigslist expands outside San Francisco (2000)

* Google AdWords launches (2000)

* Wikipedia launches (2001)

* Napster Shut Down (2001)

* Google IPO (2004)

* Online video revolution (2006)

* Facebook opens to non-college students and Twitter takes off (2006)

* The iPhone debuts (2007)

* US Presidential Campaign (2008)

* Iranian election protests (2009)

Source: NZ Herald