Time Magazine Readers Name Anonymous ‘Most Influential Person’

ZDNet: Time magazine has published two lists of the most influential people of 2012: one is a readers poll and the other is a edited list chosen by the magazine’s staff. In the reader poll, the hacker group Anonymous came in first place, while the editors put the group way down at number 36 on the other list.

The description of the group suggests the first place finish may not have been strictly legitimate. It asks, “Did Anonymous fix the TIME 100 poll? ‘Depends who you think is smarter, a global collective of highly skilled hackers or the TIME IT department,’ says one fellow traveler, anonymously.”

Time picked basketball player Jeremy Lin as the most influential person of the year.