Twitter has been named the breakout site of the year at the prestigious Webby awards, cementing its zeitgeist status.
Twitter won breakout site at the 2009 Webby Awards
Founded three years ago, the microblogging site has grown 900% in the last 12 months.
Its profile has been boosted by celebrity users including Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross.
Yesterday it emerged the site, where users post 140-character updates, may be bought by Apple.
Winning a Webby Award can help catapult a site into the mainstream.
Previous winners of the breakout category include MySpace and Flickr – both now established sites with millions of regular users.
Other Webby award-winners include former Friends star Lisa Kudrow, who stars in online series Web Therapy, and Sarah Silverman, who won best actress for her web video with Matt Damon.
US TV host Jimmy Fallon won person of the year for the way he uses new media to connect with fans and Nine Inch Nails musician Trent Reznor was named artist of the year after releasing his music online for free.
Sarah Silverman won a Webby
MSNwas among the UK winners, picking up a drama award for interactive science fiction show Kirill.
Best personal website was My Star Wars Collection by Joshua Budich, The Atlantic scooped best magazine and best use of video was awarded to TED.
Paris Hilton’s spoof political manifesto failed to win in its category.
The awards are decided by the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Members include internet inventor Vint Cerf, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Matt Groening of The Simpsons.
Most of the categories have two winners – the Academy’s choice and the People’s Voice decision, which is voted by the public.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony on June 8.
Content coutesy of Sky News