[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

[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?

[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.

[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

[Lancey Howard]

By undermining mainstream media....

And THAT is where Keen's argument goes over the cliff.
The socialist "mainstream media" cut its own throat. Talk radio and the internet simply filled a vaccuum. The world is much better off.

[RJL]

In his view Web 2.0 is changing the cultural landscape and not for the better. By undermining mainstream media...

The mainstream media has no one to blame except themselves for their "undermining".

They are far too often, just plain incorrect and always with a liberal bias. They drove their customers away in droves.

[claudiustg]

-—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.”-—

Bugger off, Keen. What do you think the networks were about? Public schools?

[HerrBlucher]

EXTRA EXTRA....READ ALL ABOUT IT....MSM HEADS EXPLODE OVER IMPENDING EXTINCTION....EXTRA EXTRA...

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

[GOPJ]

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.”

"Deep analysis" is code for "unchallenged liberal pontification". And for what ever it's worth, the publishing industry is still pumping out plenty of it.

[GOPJ]

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.”

"Deep analysis" is code for "unchallenged liberal pontification". And for what ever it's worth, the publishing industry is still pumping out plenty of it.

[MichiganConservative]

Web 2.0 — distinguished by a new generation of participatory sites ... which emphasize user-generated content, social networking and interactive sharing

Huh? I thought Web 2.0 was a term that referred to the collection of new technologies that are used to provide a much more desktop-app-like user experience to the users of web sites, not web sites that cater to narcissists who want to share the boring trivialities of their boring little lives with other losers.

Nothing like a new twitter, or tweeter site, or whatever the stupid things are called:

10:57 AM. Woke up early today

11:09 AM. Got out of bathroom. Man don't go in there for a while.

11:23 AM got off phone with my old man. that jerk said I shold lok for a job. Everybody I know who's 24 is still living at home working on their creative outlets too. He just doesn't understand

11:45 AM Gassed up the Miata. George Bush is raping me with these gas prices. And not in a good way. going to get lunch with the boys. Theres a trendy new place with the best cocktails downtown