We are (partially) discontinuing Tweakers Awards – IT Pro – .Plans

Although we hadn’t made the decision at the time, looking back we can now say that the last edition of the Tweakers Awards was the last. After sixteen editions, it was time to stop this election, which once started on the Internet under the name of the Golden Key. In this plan we explain why and you can also read why the elections will not disappear completely.

For sixteen years, you’ve been able to vote for your favorite tech products and manufacturers. What started small in 2007 as a Golden Spanner election with eleven categories ended in September of last year with a live awards show that handed out awards in 38 categories. In addition to a host of additional tech categories, there were also six categories that highlighted active community members.

Not only has the contest grown over the years, but we’ve also continued to improve the concept in other ways. For example, a few years ago, we switched from voting on products to voting on manufacturers and companies. In this way, we wanted to get more people involved in the voting: even if you don’t have experience with certain products, you can gain experience with a particular manufacturer. In addition, we wanted to make it fairer for manufacturers who have released multiple products in a category and have to compete against companies that have only one product.

Year after year, it has become increasingly difficult to give this concept a fresh spin, and we have seen that enthusiasm for voting has declined in recent years. Sure, pulling some great prizes among voters has helped, but we have slowly come to the conclusion that many of you are a little tired of this concept. That is why we are stopping at this moment, while we can still look back at the last successful version, and not when few people still vote and the result is therefore worthless.

Community Awards

This year you won’t be able to vote for your favourite products and companies, but that doesn’t mean we’re throwing the entire election overboard. The Awards cover a number of community categories each year, and we think it would be a huge shame to stop doing so. That’s why we’re hereby announcing that the Community Awards will continue to roll out in a new digital guise. When can you expect that? We’ve got our eyes set on the week leading up to Christmas, in the spirit of a beautiful end-of-year finale to all the great things happening in our community.

What community awards are there again?

1. Most Karma Badges Earned
2. Top Rated First Page Comments
3. Most “best answers” in the forum
4. Editorial team providing the most used news
5. Top rated topic in forum
6. Top Rated User Reviews

The results will be announced as usual via an article, and the bronze, silver and gold medal winners will be contacted via direct message.