With the 2007 Webby Awards announced, the 2008 format is already being worked on. With so many genres of sites being created and popularized, it has been revealed that there will be 142 new categories added to next year’s roster (this year there were less than 70). 5 of those new categories have already been confirmed:
- Fansites - Every television show, movie, and musician seems to have at least a dozen or so popular fansites - often in the form of a blog. These sites will have their own category next year, each broken into their own genre (music, television, movie, actor/actress, etc.).
- MySpace - As much as we may fight it, MySpace is a Web phenomenon that’s not going away anytime soon. There will be at least 3 separate categories for MySpace alone (profile, blog, friends).
- Web comic - Web comics are continually gaining fans, so next year those same fans will be able to vote for their favorites.
- Flash games - The surge of flash game sites has created the need for a Webby category to honor the best of the best. The award will be awarded to the best flash game site as a whole, not to an individual flash game.
- Porn - Probably the most controversial new category, but also likely to be the most popular. Webby reps are quick to point out not only the popularity of porn sites, but their overall impact on the Web as a whole.
