The Cult of the Amateur: How blogs, MySpace, YouTube, and the rest of today's user-generated media are destroying our economy, our culture, and our values

I enjoyed disagreeing with the author's Chicken Little attitude. He did have some good points about information literacy and how important it is.

From the start the bias evident in the book is like getting hit with a two by four. Where as Markos Moulitsas Zúniga in "Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People Powered Politics" says that new media lessens the power of the gatekeepers, Mr. Keen argues that they are needed as a kind of cultural infrastructure. I never really understood how Craigslist fits...more

From the start the bias evident in the book is like getting hit with a two by four. Where as Markos Moulitsas Zúniga in "Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People Powered Politics" says that new media lessens the power of the gatekeepers, Mr. Keen argues that they are needed as a kind of cultural infrastructure. I never really understood how Craigslist fits in to his who thesis, but that is just one of the many ideas in his book that do not make sense.   hide

Very interesting read. I would give it 5 stars but I find parts of the book too biased.

This books examines the explosion of web 2.0 and its effect on practically everything. He examines for example, the impact of blogs on journalism and newspapers. It's a good counter to the hype social networking has generated over the past 5 years or so. One problem, he tends to blame everything on 'web 2.0', for example, the demise of the music industry. Perhaps if the major...more

This books examines the explosion of web 2.0 and its effect on practically everything. He examines for example, the impact of blogs on journalism and newspapers. It's a good counter to the hype social networking has generated over the past 5 years or so. One problem, he tends to blame everything on 'web 2.0', for example, the demise of the music industry. Perhaps if the major labels had been quick to embrace file sharing rather then attempting to squash this new technology, another revenue stream would have been invented.   hide

Although it's a bit strident, think of it as an inoculation against wild internet optimism. His thesis is valid, especially for those of us who work professionally in media, but also for consumers - when everything is ripped, remixed, or user-generated, where will great creativity come from? Will the great writers, artists, musicians, and film directors of the next generation be...more

Although it's a bit strident, think of it as an inoculation against wild internet optimism. His thesis is valid, especially for those of us who work professionally in media, but also for consumers - when everything is ripped, remixed, or user-generated, where will great creativity come from? Will the great writers, artists, musicians, and film directors of the next generation be working at McDonalds because they are now expected to give away their work for free?   hide

Not as scary as I thought it would be... the man has some valid points.

So many problems with his argument and his approach

some interesting ideas and thought provoking, but too shallow and obvious

I disagree with the thesis of the book, but it's an interesting, thought-provoking book anyway