Facebook founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg was named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" on Wednesday.

The title is awarded to the person or thing that has most influenced culture and news during the past year for good or ill.

Zuckerberg's Facebook has brought social networking to the masses. It has grown to become an Internet powerhouse since he unveiled it in 2004.

"I'm trying to make the world a more open place," Zuckerberg said in the "bio" line of his own Facebook page.

At 26, Zuckerberg became the second youngest recipient of the award. Aviator Charles Lindbergh was 25 when he won the award in 1927.

Previous winners include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, President George W. Hush and Queen Elizabeth II. Zuckerberg beat out the queen by just two weeks. She was 26 when she was named in 1952.