User:Natasa Siencnik/notes/keen/

Abstract

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

1. 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.
   • fortells the consequences of a lattening culture that is blurring the lines between traditional audience and author, creator and consumer, expert and amateur
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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
6. Digg and Reddit
   • ordering of headlines reflects what other users have been reading
   • rather than the expert judgment of news editors
   • Reddit is a mirrof of our most banal interests
7. Personal Attention
   • shameless selfadmiration of the mythical Narcissus
   • desire for personal attention is drivin the new Internet economy
   • social-networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo
   • claim to be social networks but exist to advertise ourselves
8. Old Media
   • old media is facing extinction, but what will take its place?
   • say goodbye to today's experts and cultural gatekeepers
9. 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?
10. Politics
    • medium of choice for distorting the truth about politics and polititians