30 Great Web Geeks

What's This?

This is our list of the top 30 web geeks, which we are defining as people whose technical or cultural contributions to the web have made it the place it is today.

Will #1 be katana-wielding hacker hero Richard Stallman? Will it be 4chan impresario moot? Will it be Digg duumviri Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson? Or will it be you? (Probably not, if you aren’t the founder of a multibillion-dollar enterprise.)

#20

Matthew Inman

Even if you don't know Matthew Inman by name, you've no doubt felt the octopus-like grip that he seemingly wields over the entire Internet. Back in the day, he managed to get a dating site that he... Read on...

#19

Natalie Dee and Drew Fairweather

Natalie Dee 's Married To The Sea has a schtick alright, but fortunately, it's a great schtick: take some old public domain paintings/clipart/stock illustrations/woodcuts, add some text, and let... Read on...

#18

Randall Munroe

Randall Munroe = xkcd . QED . Read on...

#17

moot

How did a 22-year-old imageboard administrator called " moot " win TIME 's Most Influential Person of 2009 online poll ? The keyword there is "online:" it helps when your base essentially runs the... Read on...

#16

Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban is known for many things -- making billions of dollars by selling Broadcast.com at the height of the tech bubble, owning the Dallas Mavericks, using his ownership of said Dallas... Read on...