Screenshot of Socia Awards website, thesocies.com, taken Friday, January 21, 2011.

Last night, the South Dakota online community celebrated with the unveiling of the first annual South Dakota Socie Award winners, which was put on by Sioux Falls marketing firm, Click Rain, and regional newspaper, Argus Leader.

Over the past couple weeks, nearly 400 social media enthusiasts cast their votes for 11 different categories. The winners were announced at a party at the Click Rain headquarters in downtown Sioux Falls. Here are the following winners in the 11 Socie Award categories (of which, I’m humbled to be donned the “Social Media King” of South Dakota):

• Over-Tweeter – Tweeting is second to them, only to breathing – @jenimc – Jennifer McNamara
• Best Sense of Humor on Twitter – Their tweets are darn funny – @brian_bieber – Brian Bieber
• Most Likely to be Given Stock in Facebook – This person lives, eats and breathes Facebook – Becki Barz
• Biggest Foursquare Addict – They check-in more than Lindsay Lohan at rehab – @ben_lippert – Ben Lippert
• Stranded on a Desert Island Feed – Who is the one online persona you couldn’t live without? @zendirtzendust – Jack Daw
• The Day Brightener – Despite your best efforts to stay crabby, this person’s online activity always makes you smile – @lucyrae – Lucy Albers
• Funniest Tweet of the Year – “I call my dad to ask if he has a stud finder. He puts my mom on the line. Tell me that’s not funny.” @BrenniFresh – Andrew Brynjulson
• Best Blog – Business or personal, a blog that is simply good stuff. Black Marks on Wood Pulp by Corey Vilhauer – blackmarks.net
• Best User of Online Video – This person gets the YouTubes, and has put it to work for him/her – Soulcrate
• Social Media King and Queen of South Dakota – John T. Meyer (@johntmeyer) and Thea Miller Ryan (@theamillerryan)

To learn more about the Socie Awards, see our article: “Socie Awards to recognize South Dakota’s finest online.”