Comedian, T.V. star, and now an internet celebrity? Stephen Colbert, who followed his success on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show with his own hit spinoff, The Colbert Report, has now been honored as the internet’s Person of the Year. By whom, you ask? Why, the Oscars of the Internet, naturally! The Webbys, now celebrating their 12th year, say that Colbert will take home the gold for “the innovative way he has used the Internet to interact with fans of The Colbert Report.”

Reuters describes the situation thus:

The Webby awards, which honor excellence on the Internet, are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy. Winners will be honored at ceremonies on June 9th and 10th in New York, and, as always, will be limited to just a five-word acceptance speech.

Let’s take a moment to get over the sheer hilarity of the phrase “excellence on the internet,” and move on. Colbert’s celebrity, which initially looked like a flash in the pan, has endured long neough to make him a fixture of pop culture - on T.V., the internet, and beyond. Last year, his word “truthiness” was inducted into the Merriam-Webster dictionary. This award is just one more feather in Colbert’s already pimped-out hat - but I think we can all agree the man deserves it.

Whatever it means.

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