Celebrating the people and work shaping digital culture.
Founded in 2008, the Shorty Awards were the first awards to honor excellence in social media. What began on Twitter has evolved alongside the internet into a global awards program recognizing the people, organizations, and work shaping how we communicate, create, and connect.
Today, the Shortys celebrate excellence across digital media, social, content, marketing, technology, and the creator economy, recognizing work from brands, agencies, media organizations, nonprofits, and individual creators.
Great work deserves recognition, and the right work can move people, industries, and communities forward.
Celebrating excellence in digital creativity, content, marketing, and communications.
Celebrating creative work that drives positive change and advances causes, communities, and the issues that matter.
Where the name comes from
“Shorty” was born in the era of short-form content, when social media demanded creativity in just 140 characters. While platforms have evolved, the core idea remains the same: communicate clearly, creatively, and at the speed of culture.
The Shortys began when social media was still defining what the internet could become. Since then, the way we create, communicate, and consume has changed dramatically.
The Shortys have evolved with it, from celebrating social media pioneers to recognizing the ideas, campaigns, content, creators, technologies, and experiences shaping digital culture today.
That evolution is the story of the Shortys.
“The Oscars of Social Media” was born. Celebrating creators in the social media space.
The Shorty Awards introduced the brands and organizations competition honoring the best in social and digital media.
The introduction of the Shorty Impact Awards to celebrate positive change around the world.
The first-ever digital award show hosted by JB Smoove and livestreamed on YouTube.
The Shorty Awards summed up to the trend of NFT launching NFT Shorty Trophies.
Hosted the first live event in Los Angeles.
Partnered with Wave to create the Elevate Creatives Fund, supporting creatives, strategists, and marketers.
Every year, the Shortys bring together hundreds of leaders across technology, marketing, journalism, media, culture, and business through the Real Time Academy.
Academy members are peer-nominated and selected based on their professional experience and achievements, including recognition through the Shorty Awards.
Each season, 400+ judges evaluate submissions independently through a rigorous scoring process, and winners and honorees are selected based on the merit of the work.
The Shortys' iconic whale tail pays homage to Twitter's legendary Fail Whale, the original illustration used during Twitter outages from 2008 to 2013.
Designed by artist Yiying Lu, the Fail Whale became one of the earliest visual icons of internet culture. Lu was also among the first Shorty Award winners, connecting the symbol directly to the origins of the awards.
Today, the whale tail represents something slightly different: work that makes an impact, breaks through, and gets
The Shortys have recognized work from some of the world's most influential brands, agencies, media organizations, nonprofits, and creators.
Nearly two decades of recognizing the people, teams, and work shaping what comes next.
Celebrating digital excellence
Represented across submissions
Industry leaders evaluating the work
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