User:Natasa Siencnik/notes/keen/: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 17:12, 12 November 2010

Abstract

Andrew Keen: Introduction. In: The Cult of the Amateur. How Today's Internet is Killing our Culture, Crown Business, 2007.

T.H. Huxley's Theory
- If you provide infinite monkeys with typewriters, some monkey will eventually create a masterpiece – a play by Shakespeare, a Platonic dialoge, or an economic tractise by Adam Smith.
- foretells the consequences of a flattening culture that is blurring the lines between traditional audience and author, creator and consumer, expert and amateur
Web 2.0
- today's technology hooks all those monkeys up with typewriters
- internet users with networked personal computers
- they are creating an endless digital forest of mediocrity
- at the heard of self-publishing is the internet diary, the blog
- kids can't tell the difference between professional journalism and blogs
- for Generation Y utopians, every posting is just another version of the truth
Wikipedia
- the third most visited site for information and current events
- infinite monkeys providing infinite information for infinite readers
- perpetuating the cycle of misinformation and ignorance
- everyone can rewrite an entry to their liking
YouTube
- portal of amateur videos and world's fastest growing site
- infinite gallery of amateur movies showing everyday activities
- tagline for YouTube is Broadcast Yourself
Google
- logic of its search engine (algorithm) reflects the wisdom of the crowd
- the more people click on a link, the more likely the link will come up again
- Google just tells us what we already know
Digg and Reddit
- ordering of headlines reflects what other users have been reading
- rather than the expert judgment of news editors
- Reddit is a mirror of our most banal interests
Personal Attention
- shameless self-admiration of the mythical Narcissus
- desire for personal attention is driving the new Internet economy
- social-networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo
- claim to be social networks but exist to advertise ourselves
Old Media
- old media is facing extinction, but what will take its place?
- say goodbye to today's experts and cultural gatekeepers
WIki-Novel
- literary experiment sponsored by the British publisher Penguin
- invites anyone to contribute to a collective online novel
- but can a collaboration of amateur voices create a coherent work?
Politics
- medium of choice for distorting the truth about politics and politicians
- democratized digital media to obfuscate truth and manipulate
Cost of Democratization
- blurring of lines between the audience and author obscures objectivity
- difficult to determine the difference between reader wand writer
Business 2.0
- who matters most? – YOU! the consumer as creator
- free information by Wikipedia vs. encyclopedia like Britannica
- free music or video on YouTube vs. sale of CD or DVD
- nobody becomes rich from blogging
Talent
- talent requires work, capital, expertise, investment
- it requires the complex infrastructure of traditional media
Artificial Intelligence
- Pandora.com, Goombah.com, Moodlogic.com
- engines that can tell what music or movies we will like
- but artificial intelligence is a poor substitute for taste

Comments

extremely pessimistic, nearly aggressive
the author talks down to the users, treats them as idiots
glorification of the high culture and education
condemns free user-generated internet content
makes them responsible for economic crisis
glorification of the old establishment without reflecting it

Discussion

Amateur does not mean that you are a dilettante
being an Amateur is about passion, love to what you do
Midnight-Programmers > chance to use computers in a lab
hackers are sometimes put on a level with creackers

Links

www.digg.com
www.reddit.com
www.bebo.com
www.guykawasaki.com[1]
www.dailykos.com[2]

Movies

Hackers: Wizards of the Electronic Age (1984)
Digital Nation: Life On The Virtual Frontier (2010)

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 <div style="column-count:2;-moz-column-count:2;-webkit-column-count:2">
 #T.H. Huxley's Theory
-#*If you provde infinite monkeys with typewriters, some monkey will eventually create a masterpiece – a play by Shakespeare, a Platonic dialoge, or an ecnomic tratise by Adam Smith.
+#*If you provide infinite monkeys with typewriters, some monkey will eventually create a masterpiece – a play by Shakespeare, a Platonic dialoge, or an economic tractise by Adam Smith.
-#*fortells the consequences of a lattening culture that is blurring the lines between traditional audience and author, creator and consumer, expert and amateur
+#*foretells the consequences of a flattening culture that is blurring the lines between traditional audience and author, creator and consumer, expert and amateur
 #Web 2.0
 #*today's technology hooks all those monkeys up with typewriters
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 #*for Generation Y utopians, every posting is just another version of the truth
 #Wikipedia
+#*the third most visited site for information and current events
+#*infinite monkeys providing infinite information for infinite readers
+#*perpetuating the cycle of misinformation and ignorance
+#*everyone can rewrite an entry to their liking
+#YouTube
+#*portal of amateur videos and world's fastest growing site
+#*infinite gallery of amateur movies showing everyday activities
+#*tagline for YouTube is <i>Broadcast Yourself</i>
+#Google
+#*logic of its search engine (algorithm) reflects the <i>wisdom</i> of the crowd
+#*the more people click on a link, the more likely the link will come up again
+#*Google just tells us what we already know
+#Digg and Reddit
+#*ordering of headlines reflects what other users have been reading
+#*rather than the expert judgment of news editors
+#*Reddit is a mirror of our most banal interests
+#Personal Attention
+#*shameless self-admiration of the mythical Narcissus
+#*desire for personal attention is driving the new Internet economy
+#*social-networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo
+#*claim to be social networks but exist to advertise ourselves
+#Old Media
+#*old media is facing extinction, but what will take its place?
+#*say goodbye to today's experts and cultural gatekeepers
+#WIki-Novel
+#*literary experiment sponsored by the British publisher Penguin
+#*invites anyone to contribute to a collective online novel
+#*but can a collaboration of amateur voices create a coherent work?
+#Politics
+#*medium of choice for distorting the truth about politics and politicians
+#*<i>democratized</i> digital media to obfuscate truth and manipulate
+#Cost of Democratization
+#*blurring of lines between the audience and author obscures objectivity
+#*difficult to determine the difference between reader wand writer
+#Business 2.0
+#*who matters most? – YOU! the consumer as creator
+#*free information by Wikipedia vs. encyclopedia like Britannica
+#*free music or video on YouTube vs. sale of CD or DVD
+#*nobody becomes rich from blogging
+#Talent
+#*talent requires work, capital, expertise, investment
+#*it requires the complex infrastructure of traditional media
+#Artificial Intelligence
+#*Pandora.com, Goombah.com, Moodlogic.com
+#*engines that can tell what music or movies we will like
+#*but artificial intelligence is a poor substitute for taste
+</div>
+<br />
+== Comments ==
+*extremely pessimistic, nearly aggressive
+*the author talks down to the users, treats them as idiots
+*glorification of the high culture and education
+*condemns free user-generated internet content
+*makes them responsible for economic crisis
+*glorification of the old establishment without reflecting it
+<br />
+== Discussion ==
+*<i>Amateur</i> does not mean that you are a dilettante
+*being an <i>Amateur</i> is about passion, love to what you do
+*Midnight-Programmers > chance to use computers in a lab
+*<i>hackers</i> are sometimes put on a level with <i>creackers</i>
+<br />
+== Links ==
+www.digg.com<br />
+www.reddit.com<br />
+www.bebo.com<br />
+www.guykawasaki.com[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Kawasaki]<br />
+www.dailykos.com[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_kos]<br />
+<br />
+== Movies ==
+<i>Hackers: Wizards of the Electronic Age</i> (1984)<br />
+<i>Digital Nation: Life On The Virtual Frontier</i> (2010)<br />