Game of Thrones has been nominated for three Shorty Awards, which honor the best in social media. Nominees are determined by the Shorty Awards Nominating Board based on their social media body of work in 2015. The criteria for award consideration includes social media innovation, quality and originality of content on all social media platforms, and impact and engagement with fans.
Winners are chosen through a combination of votes from the public, and scores given by the Real Time Academy, which consists of over 300 leaders in journalism, culture, and technology. Members of the Academy include Arianna Huffington, Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, and Vine co-founder Rus Yusupov.
Thrones is nominated in the following categories:
- Best TV Show: This category recognizes TV shows that connect with their fans on a more personal level by sharing updates, commentaries and insight into future episodes.
- Best Actress – Maisie Williams: A category for actresses who interact with their fans via social media. Maisie is a frequent poster to Instagram, Twitter, and in 2015 launched her own YouTube channel.
- Best Animated GIF of the Year – The Night’s King “Come at Me Bro”. This category recognizes an impactful GIF from last year that made us laugh, cry or immediately re-share. I’m pretty sure this GIF accomplished all three.
Game of Thrones has previously won a Shorty in the Tumblr category for the “Beautiful Death Countdown” prior to season 4, and was nominated in the TV category for #RoastJoffrey, the first social media event of its kind in dishonor of the king.
The 8th Annual Shorty Awards ceremony will be held in April in New York City and will be live streamed internationally. Voting for the Shortys ends on February 18th at 11:59 EST so be sure to vote for your favorite Game of Thrones entries!