Oprah, Beyoncé and Lin-Manuel Miranda are among the A-list names that dot this year’s Webby Award nominations.
The 22nd edition of the annual awards features — as always — an eclectic roundup of the internet’s finest, with gripping podcasts and especially snarky fast food social accounts recognized by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
RuPaul, Oprah and The Roots’ Questlove will compete for the title of best host, alongside Phoebe Judge of the “Criminal” podcast and “Intercepted” host Jeremy Scahill. On the corporate side, Xbox, Denny’s, and the Museum of Ice Cream will battle it out for best overall social presence.
Lin Manuel-Miranda is nominated in the public service & activism category for “Rise Up For Good,” his million-dollar fundraising partnership with the Charity Network. The “Hamilton” mastermind got the nod next to online activism causes like the @lgbt_history Instagram account and the Black Lives Matter movement’s provocative web app, Unsafety Check.
The best writing category is a who’s who of addictive podcasts, including This American Life’s tragic slice-of-life “S-Town” and HowStuffWork’s wildly educational “Stuff You Missed In History Class.” “The Simpsons” is nominated for the long-running comedy’s online short “Donald Trump’s First 100 Days In Office,” while Kourtney Kardashian and Elton John — a dream matchup if we’ve ever seen one — will duke it out in the celebrity/fan category, along with Ellen DeGeneres’ ellentube and the 8-bit Beyoncé game “Lemonade Rage.”
All nominees are eligible for both the People’s Voice Award — with online voting open through April 19 — and the academy judge-selected Webby Award. This year’s judges include Jimmy Kimmel and Instagram executive Eva Chen. The winners will be announced April 24. To see all the nominees, and to vote, head to webbyawards.com.
