The Cult of the Amateur (Or Why The Blogosphere Sucks)

New York Times ^ | 29 June 2007 | By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

[shrinkermd]

Digital utopians have heralded the dawn of an era in which Web 2.0 — distinguished by a new generation of participatory sites like MySpace.com and YouTube.com, which emphasize user-generated content, social networking and interactive sharing — ushers in the democratization of the world: more information, more perspectives, more opinions, more everything, and most of it without filters or fees. Yet as the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andrew Keen points out in his provocative new book, “The Cult of the Amateur,” Web 2.0 has a dark side as well.

Mr. Keen argues that “what the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment.” In his view Web 2.0 is changing the cultural landscape and not for the better. By undermining mainstream media and intellectual property rights, he says, it is creating a world in which we will “live to see the bulk of our music coming from amateur garage bands, our movies and television from glorified YouTubes, and our news made up of hyperactive celebrity gossip, served up as mere dressing for advertising.” This is what happens, he suggests, “when ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets mob rule.”

[shrinkermd]

This is a book review of Mr. Keen's book. It can serve as an introduction to a book that seems well worth purchasing.

[Joe Brower]

"when ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets mob rule."

Sounds like Mr. Keen is just playing defense for the slowly dying NYT, whose operating paradigm for many decades now has been "when ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets left-wing political agenda".

[Sherman Logan]

Whereas historians and journalists traditionally strived to deliver the best available truth possible

Now that is funny!

[SpaceBar]

The author of said book, Andrew Keen, sounds like your run of the mill elitist.

[I see my hands]

When ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets mob rule.

That's BDS

[Nervous Tick]

>> introduction to a book that seems well worth purchasing.

Huh? It sounds like the ramblings of an elitist whining about his loss of control of the information people are “allowed” to consume.

Why would I want to pay good money for his flawed views?

[pacelvi]

“when ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets mob rule.”

yeah, i try to avoid Democrat Party Conventions too.

[bert]

The bloggers have no style manual. They don’t know for instance that educated pressies use the incorrect word cement when the correct english word is concrete

[A Navy Vet]

"...best available truth...",
as opposed to the "somewhat good avilable truth"?

[kinoxi]

Mr. Keen argues that “what the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment.”

The MSM isn't known for their 'deep analysis' and 'considered judgement' IMO.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Mr. Keen argues that “what the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment.”

Nonsense. What the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is more of both, unfiltered by media elites. If you want penetrating analysis, there are plenty of bloggers who can provide it, often bettering the work of the deep thinkers on the pages of the NY Times or the Washington Post. If you're looking for a shrill echo chamber of your own deeply held beliefs, you can find that too, just as anyone could find it on the pages of Mother Jones or the National Review back when there was no Internet.

In any event, such criticisms are pointless. The Internet is here and will not go away. Expressing points of view to a large audience is no longer the privilege of a few columnists. Every American can now make his views known to a vast audience regarding, for example, a horrible immigration bill, and the consequences for the nation are overwhelmingly positive for anyone who believes in democracy.

[Sherman Logan]

By stealing away our eyeballs, the blogs and wikis are decimating the publishing, music and news-gathering industries that created the original content those Web sites ‘aggregate.’

One of the most ridiculous claims I've ever seen.

The "music industry" and the "publishing industry" never created any music or literary work. They are merely distribution mechanisms that siphon off the vast majority of the income from the actual content-producers.

Now that a superior distribution mechanism is available, there is at least a potential that true musicians, artists and writers may be able to make a decent living by absorbing all of the income from a much smaller audience, while wildly popular content-producers become wealthy literally overnight. Although a mechanism for funding this remains to be developed.

Does anybody have even a notion about how many good or great artists, musicians and writers of the last 100 years were never heard of because they couldn't get to the public past the gatekeepers? The same guys who rejected James Herriot 44 times and JK Rowling 12 times.

IOW, what has the opportunity cost of all these gatekeepers been?

[Lorianne]

Yes, by all means, it is better to have the experts think for us. What were we thinking?

[Congressman Billybob]

This book review is another example of intellectual masturbation by folks who hold the same world view as the Editors of the NY Times. They think that communication should be left to the professionals (like them), just as politics should be left to the professions (like Lott and Kennedy), and that business should be left to the professionals (like Soros and sometimes Gates).

This is an electronic version of the American Revolution and the Editors of the Times are the Tories who have not yet realized they have to either change their ways, or flee to New Brunswick, in Canada.

I think they are to clueless to change their ways. So, I hope they like the weather in Canada.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article, "Death by Talk Radio: the Amnesty Bill"

[Wonder Warthog]

"This is a book review of Mr. Keen's book. It can serve as an introduction to a book that seems well worth purchasing."

Whatever for?? His "thesis" is already disproven, by "l'affair Rather" started right here on Free Republic. While he may be correct that the output/opinion of any single blogger is "amateurish" (but beware of those hidden experts out there)--when enough of those tidbits are collected and refined, the final output cannot be matched, even in depth, by that of a single expert.

[Joe Brower]

Interesting perspective, Congressman. As always, your comments are insightful and spot-on.

As for them liking the weather in Canada, I'd add to that "and standing in bread lines". $;-)

[goldstategop]

Elitists are beside themselves about their loss of control. As we've seen this past week they have only the illusion of control. They're as naked as the Wizard Of Oz. So they lash out at those beneath them for having the effrontery to tell THEM what to do. Gotta love that snobbish mindset. Things are changing for the better.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Sherman Logan]

Read a 500 post thread on a controversial topic here on FR, and I guarantee you will have a better understanding of the issue than you will get by watching a one-hour documentary about it on PBS.

The main weakness of FR in this regard is the preaching to the choir effect on most subjects. Which is why those topics that conservatives differ amongst ourselves on are the most interesting to read.