Time Person of the Year 2015

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760539,00.html

That was a different...err...time.

[Simfan34]

Aung San Suu Kyi. Of course, she's won an election before, and there's no guarantee that there won't be a repeat of 1990 (when the results were nullified and she was thrown in prison, because, reasons), but I think that's an unlikely enough possibility that we can say her victory will be  substantive, and that it represents a genuinely transformative accomplishment.

[Platypus]

Aung San Suu Kyi. Of course, she's won an election before, and there's no guarantee that there won't be a repeat of 1991 (when the results were nullified and she was thrown in prison, because, reasons), but I think that's an unlikely enough possibility that we can say her victory will be  substantive, and that it represents a genuinely transformative accomplishment.

Her, Merkel, Putin, Trump, Sanders. I like the idea of the LGBT community if it isn't going to be an actual person.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

How about Yanis Varafoukis?

[Eomer]

That title is just ridiculous. Which mentally sane person wants to share it with Hitler, Stalin, Putin, Reagan, Bush Sr., Bush Jr., and Bono?

And I just saw Newt Gingrich was the "Person of the Year" also. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

[Eomer]

I have just took part in the survey.

Only four "people" have a rating of above 50%:
Pope Francis, the "refugees", Malala Yousafzai and ... guess who else ...

Jeb Bush is the least popular person; he's even more unpopular than Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Bashar Assad and Kim Kardashian West.

[dudeabides]

Five options in my opinion:

1. House Speaker Paul Ryan - Rarely in U.S. history has one individual been so popular that he/she had to be begged to take one of the most powerful positions in the entire world. Additionally, Speaker Ryan is a symbol of a younger generation taking the reins of power not just in congress, but in the entire world.

2. The Police - I know it's not a single person, but police-community relations was a hot button issue in 2015. Not since the 1970s or 1980s has tension risen to this level between racial and ethnic minorities and the police.

3. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell - The NFL had it's share of controversies in 2015 and Roger Goodell is certainly a polarizing figure.

4. Donald Trump - The Presidential Hopeful has once again mastered the art of public relations. Never before in modern memory has a single presidential candidate generated more interest than Donald Trump.

5. Black Lives Matter - The Black Lives Matter movement has renewed international discussion of race relations.

[Cubby]

No, the absolute worst Time Person of the Year was around that same time when they gave it to Bono & Melinda Gates. Like they need any more fame! If they wanted to praise rich people who give back to their communities, they could have picked Mohamed Yunus for microlending.

2006 was probably the lowest ebb for this award.

I didn't think that Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook were all that big until a year or two after. MySpace was at its peak though I suppose.

Wikipedia is the oldest, starting in 2001, but seems to have developed slowly. The other ones you mentioned didn't become nationally known until around 2006 but were popular right away.

Side Note: I remember a movie that year called John Tucker Must Die and the ad for it on TV said "visit our myspace page". Seems hokey now but very cutting edge at the time.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Ok everyone, we have an Elite Eight Final contenders of this years title. They are:

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
Black Lives Matter
Caitlyn Jenner
Travis Kalanick
Angela Merkel
Vladimir Putin
Hassan Rouhani
Donald Trump

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'll repeat what I previously said:

There is no obvious choice for this year, but it's about time for Time to name another entrepreneur who is supposedly remaking the world with a disruptive business model. So of the 59 choices they gave, I think Travis Kalanick, Uber's CEO, is the most likely one for them to pick, but even so his chances are at best 1 in 5.

I'll up them to 1 in 3 now that he's made the shortlist.  He's still the likeliest choice, and some of these eight have zero chance.

[This account no longer in use.]

Most of the PotY candidates are only there because of ISIS. My vote goes to Al-Baghdadi, as much as I hate to say it.

[Mr. Morden]

It's Merkel:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/angela-merkel-time-person-of-the-year-2015-216584

[Torie]

Good choice I think.

[This account no longer in use.]

Merkel was only on the shortlist in the first place because of al-Baghdadi.

[Cubby]

Excellent choice. For keeping Greece in the Euro Zone and for being compassionate towards the greedy migrants.

Trump would have been a reasonable one too, but they probably didn't want to anger people like in 2001 when Time was threatened into giving the award to Guiliani instead of bin Laden.

[Emmon Frey]

Decent choice.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Five options in my opinion:

1. House Speaker Paul Ryan - Rarely in U.S. history has one individual been so popular that he/she had to be begged to take one of the most powerful positions in the entire world. Additionally, Speaker Ryan is a symbol of a younger generation taking the reins of power not just in congress, but in the entire world.

2. The Police - I know it's not a single person, but police-community relations was a hot button issue in 2015. Not since the 1970s or 1980s has tension risen to this level between racial and ethnic minorities and the police.

3. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell - The NFL had it's share of controversies in 2015 and Roger Goodell is certainly a polarizing figure.

4. Donald Trump - The Presidential Hopeful has once again mastered the art of public relations. Never before in modern memory has a single presidential candidate generated more interest than Donald Trump.

5. Black Lives Matter - The Black Lives Matter movement has renewed international discussion of race relations.

Wow this list could be given today just in a different order and all would matter more as well