The Future is Female: Webby Awards Recognizes Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Inbal Amirav and the Women’s March

In the midst of #TimesUp and #MeToo, this year’s Webby Awards, commonly known as the “Oscars of the Internet”, reflects the current conversation. Notable work in advocating and spreading the message of women’s empowerment seems to dominate the 2018 Webby Awards nominations.

The Women’s March was honored with the award for Social Movement of the Year for using the power of the Internet to spur a major social uprising and awakening. And actress Inbal Amirav, who made a huge splash with a powerful domestic violence awareness video, It Rarely Stops, garners a nomination for Best Individual Performance.

Amirav’s performance in It Rarely Stops triggered a response from the viewers, spurring a phenomenon that went far beyond the exchange of the video on various social media platforms. It Rarely Stops unleashed a non-paralleled sensation; Many YouTube users, including influencers, were so enamored by the video that they started creating imitation videos mimicking Inbal’s performance, passing the message along. This trend gave new meaning to a video going viral with the “sharing” of this video had taken a far more active form.

According to an analysis of data provided by the thehotline.org, since the video went viral the online visits of the National Domestic Violence Hotline website went up by 309%, reflecting an increase of over 1,533,587 online visits per year. To this day the video is widely referred to by major professional publications as the most famous example of harrowingly beautiful public service announcements. And Inbal’s performance was unanimously praised by professional media.

Says Amirav, “I feel especially fortunate I got to work on something so meaningful, sending a message of empowerment to unlock the voices of victims. Research shows one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Most often these assaults are not isolated but instead continue.”

Says Claire Graves, Executive Director of The Webby Awards, “We are honored to recognize the inspiring contributions of all our Nominees and celebrate their many talented achievements.”

Nominees also include Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Shonda Rhimes and Selena Gomez. While the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) selects its Webby Winner in each category, every Webby Nominee also contends for a Webby People’s Voice Award as chosen by the voting public. This year’s Webby People’s Voice Awards have garnered 1,390,028 votes so far, and the clock is ticking towards the finale when the winners will be announced on April 24. The star-studded awards ceremony will be held at Cipriani Wall Street on May 14, 2018, hosted by comedian Amber Ruffin.