The hand that clicks the mouse is the hand that controls the world.

Or that is what Time Magazine would have you believe. In issues past Time's Person of the Year was an honor reserved for diplomats, humanitarians and presidents-- but 2006 has seen the rise of consumer-related content meaning YOU-the user, controls the information age.

"It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes," points out Time writer Lev Grossman.

User-generated content as well as web-based communities have been the force driving consumer trends in 2006. Advertising and marketing channels had to develop new ways to address sites such as MySpace and YouTube, and their subsequent buy-outs by major corporations such as NewsCorp and Google is proof positive that this is where the big boys are.

More recent news of Facebook rejecting an offer of one billion dollars from Yahoo! shows just how valuable this new generation of user-based content has become. Time magazine hasn't discovered anything new; these sites offer direct lines between marketers and consumers making advertising on them increasingly profitable.

With community-based advertising on the rise, the marketer may well be in the running for Time's Person of the Year in 2007.