User:Natasa Siencnik/notes/keen/

From XPUB & Lens-Based wiki

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