Everyone has their go-to websites: Google, Facebook, Twitter, even your online bank account. However, with the year coming to a close, there’s no better time than to spice up your daily rotation with some new kids on the block. Here are our picks for the most intriguing, entertaining and informative websites that have caught our eye this year.

Inspiring: Upworthy

Upworthy’s maxim is “Things that matter… pass ‘em on.” It allows users to promote what’s important on the web. Everything from the upsetting to the astounding to the just plain beautiful.

Music: This is My Jam 

Choose a song. Just one. That song that you can’t get out of your head no matter how hard you try. The one that is just simply better than everything else. Put it on your profile for an hour or for six months. Look at what other people choose as their jam. Create the most perfect, well-informed, well-rounded playlist ever.

News: NowThis News

Founded by two guys formerly in senior positions at The Huffington Post, NowThis News provides short, informative video clips summarising the day’s main issues. Promising “the news in your pocket”,  the site certainly delivers, with iPhone and iPad app versions also available.

Festive: Is it Christmas?

This site poses a question and answers it pretty definitively. It’s a great one for nagging kids or completely hopeless people incapable of keeping track of time.

Fashion: StyleInc

Edits and collates the best of online shopping as well as offering some insightful, entertaining profiles and features. The “Five Minutes With” section is especially addictive.

Funny: You Had One Job

Pulls together all the stupidity in the world to help you feel better about yourself. Seriously, it’s truly shocking the number of avoidable mishaps out there.

Shopping: This is Why I’m Broke

Ever wanted a magic wand television remote? What about a viewable root garden? Earrings with Ryan Gosling’s face on them? This is where you go to find them. Compiles every unnecessary purchase you never even knew you wanted.

Time Wasting: Find the Invisible Cow

As you can probably tell from the URL, this is just plain stupid. Despite the overt stupidity, you can’t help but feel incredibly satisfied upon finding the invisible cow. If you’re bored and need a sense of achievement, head on over to hear a stranger scream at you as you get closer to your target.

Travel: Remote Control Tourist

A brilliant initiative by Tourism Victoria to showcase the city of Melbourne and allow visitors to “try before you go.” For five days, four tourists wandered around the city with cameras on their heads at the mercy of the world’s Twitter users. While the initiative is now over, the site still offers an awesome summary video and no doubt the event’s success will ensure it crops up next year and, possibly, in other cities.

Art and design: But it Does Float

Collections of beautiful photography and art presented in a satisfyingly minimalist format.

What’s your favourite site? Let us know in the comments below.