50 Coolest Websites (Time has heard of)

So it's out, the 50 Coolest Websites (that Time Magazine is aware of) of 2006. What is fascinating about this list is how many of these names I have never heard of.

That might not mean much to people who have never read this site, but I am a surfing, bookmarking, RSS fanatic - and there's just too much being created daily for anyone to know everything that is going on.

One of the beautiful things about the Internet is creates on a global scale the relationships we have in the real world. Those sites I am most likely to read, are often the sites most likely read by my closest contacts. In fact, if you saw a version of this site as it is connected online, you'd understand that we tend to surf in clusters because our natural inclination is to read what others have read.

This is not a bad thing. In fact, with the amount of information available today, no one can truly claim to command knowledge of any single subject without a caveat next to their statement. Online sites help us categorize that knowledge, and so the best surfers and researches learn to identify hubs that will take us to the knowledge we need at any given time.

It's sad in some ways, because it represents a fragmenting of culture that is not easily resolved. At the same time, it is good for us, as the more people think for themselves the less chance any of us have at tyranny.

So check out the 50 coolest Websites as defined by Time. Don't feel disappointed if everyone they quoted comes from New York City. That is, after all, who they know.