Just the other day, I was talking to one of my friends about Xanga. I remember setting up my first Xanga page in 7th grade and thought that it was the coolest thing ever…I would be able to tell people about my life and post pictures. Flash forward to today: Facebook. In today’s world, social networking and self-expression via the Internet play a role in every day life. In fact, this blog entry itself is just that. In his novel The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture, Andrew Keen critiques the world-wide fascination surrounding the digital world, from Youtube to Facebook to Blogs. Andrew Keen, despite his critiques, is a well-known presence on the Internet. He hosts his own Internet show, “Keen On,” where he comments and interviews about technology and culture. Most recently, he wrote “DIGITAL VERTIGO: How Social Networks Are Destroying Our Privacy, Eroding Our Freedom and Distorting Our Identities”, which will be released later this year.
Many of us would like to believe that this new digital age, Web 2.0, is a good thing that promotes self-expression and democratization. Keen, however, strongly argues that this new age has a very dark side. According to Keen, web 2.0 has strongly undermined intellectual property because of file sharing sites that get millions of views per day. Keen also touches on how the internet, particularly through Youtube, rewards people for their stupidity. In fact, some of the most famous Youtube videos include people engaging in idiotic brawls or running over their foot while “Ghost-riding.”
In his “Keen On” interview with Simon Reynolds, author of Retromania, Keen discusses how the internet has negatively affected the music industry. As Reynolds argues, today’s generation feels as if they don’t have to pay for music. While many of us may occasionally illegally download a song or two, many of us still do use iTunes or Rhapsody to purchase music. Earlier generations had no choice but to purchase a CD or a record in a store, but with technology today, it is much easier to get music other ways, sometimes without paying. Some artists may argue that the Internet is “hurting” them, but many others would gladly thank the Internet for their success. Through Twitter and other social networking sites, musicians are able to communicate with their fans and maintain a strong image. Even earlier this week when the SOPA blackout was happening, not very many artists supported the organization. In my opinion, just because an artist is not getting paid for all of his or her songs, it doesn’t mean that they are a failure.
Although I think that Keen makes some interesting points, I think that his tone throughout the book is condescending toward those who use the Internet for the purposes that he criticizes, a group of people who include you and myself. In fact, at the end of the book, Keen goes on a rant about the immoral acts that he believes are promoted by the Internet, including pornography and gambling. And although there are a lot of Youtube videos that we might think to be dumb, there are also many that are brilliant and extremely entertaining. While the music industry has lost money because of file sharing, hundreds of artists, like Justin Bieber, have been discovered thanks to the Internet. We need to stop using money as a measure of success or failure. The Internet provides us an emotional outlet and ironically in most cases, hiding behind a computer allows us to be our true selves.
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Click here to visit Andrew Keen’s website.
Xanga! I also remember setting up teenybopper blogs and websites. Blogs are so much easier than a pen and paper diary until you go back to read your entry and try to figure out where you were coming from. Oh how technology has evolved from pen and paper to iPads and even records to tapes to CDs to mp3’s!
You brought up a good point on how most of our music collection nowadays was rightfully purchased on iTunes. I was doing some seasonal cleaning and found my signed album leaflet from Danity Kane. Totally thought for a moment to keep it, but they’re not a group anymore and who even buys hard copy CDs anymore?!
Lastly, I agree with you on Keen’s condescending tone. He obviously didn’t think the Biebs was a successful rags to riches story that only happened because of the Internet.
I feel as though I can really relate to you on the issue of the presentation of sites like facebook youtube and wordpress. In many situations the reasons that these sites have become popular is for people doing idiotic things on them, expecially with youtube in particular. Not too long ago I also recall having a Xanga page so maybe that has something to do with the familiarity. Its also interesting to think about our generation and how its familiarity with internet refrences that seem even more so prevlaent than quotations from the greatest authors of generations past.