Top Websites of the Decade

The worldwide web affects the life of millions of people, and its influence grew greatly during the past decade. A worldwide online classified advertisement site, the best known search engine in the world, the most popular video website in the world, and the world's largest online encyclopedia made up some of the top websites for the decade. What sites were the most important for the decade of the 2000's depends on what Internet list you read, but this article contains some of the top sites, in no particular order of importance.

One website that is at the top of some lists for the top websites is Craigslist.org. What was once a local ad service has become the biggest online classified advertisement service in the world. One can find or sell almost anything, give something away for free or get something for free, buy or rent a house, search the personals, or do any number of other things.

For those who want to know about the quality of products or service they will receive at a particular business, Yelp.com was one of the top websites of the decade. The site contains reviews by ordinary people of restaurants, spas, nightclubs, places to shop, and many others, all across the country. If you use the site, you will no longer trust the opinions of one person's opinions before going to a particular establishment.

One site that is on more than one top ten list is Flickr.com, which was founded in 2004. The site allows photographers, from the beginner to the professional, to upload pictures and share them with anyone, anytime, anywhere.

If you've ever wanted more information from your government, or wanted to read or download tax forms, social security information, information from the Library of Congress, or the Smithsonian Institution, you can find it all at USA.gov.

Google.com and Googlenews.com made various lists of top websites. With Google.com you can not only search for information on the web about any topic, on the most popular search engine in the world, but also set up a free e-mail account, look at maps, download images and pictures. In addition there is information about books and even web browsers. News.google.com combines news from sources all over the world, including local, sports, national, world, and technology.

Youtube.com was the first website that allowed users to upload and share videos quickly and easily. Now the most popular such site on the web, you can find songs by your favorite artists, no matter what the category that artist represents, rock, country, or some other kind of music, even Christian, news, sports, television shows, and other items.

Amazon.com was founded in 1994 as an online bookstore and is now the most popular shopping site on the Internet.

Facebook.com was founded in 2003. It is now the most popular social networking site in the world and is how 350 million people keep in contact. People can even find old high school or college friends or former coworkers.

Pandora.com allows people to listen to free Internet radio stations and even create and customize their own stations.

While users share videos on Youtube.com on a site that has only been in existence since 2007, you can use Hulu.com to watch full length television shows and movies on your computer.

Skype.com has more than 500 million accounts and allows people to use the Internet for free long distance phone calls, video calls, and video conferencing.

Wikipedia.org has become the world's largest online encyclopedia and has information about almost any subject.

Digg.com allows anyone to take anything online and rate it, helping people find the best articles in the Internet.

Twitter.com has given users the chance to use the Internet to send text messages online, without using a cell phone, from a computer about anything. During the political unrest in Iran after the presidential elections, Twitter became the main source of news.

The Top Ten Best Websites of the Decade by Wendy Boswell, Websearch.about.com

Best Websites of the Decade by Daniel Nations, Webtrends.about.com