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andrew keen
May 2009 
The Cult of Digital Narcissism
~C4Chaos
(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)
Just finished watching this talk by Andrew Keen at Authors@Google. Sit back, relax, grab some popcorn and watch and digest the essence of this video.
Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur - How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture, is a staunch critic of Web 2.0 (aka democratization of media). In his notorious Web 2.0 essay, he said:
"If you democratize media, then you end up democratizing talent. The unintended consequence of all this democratization, to misquote Web 2.0 apologist Thomas Friedman, is cultural 'flattening.' No more Hitchcocks, Bonos, or Sebalds. Just the flat noise of opinion--Socrates's nightmare."
This is partly true, Web 2.0 has elevated the culture of digital narcissism to dizzying extreme. Just look at the most popular videos on Youtube and gazillions of blogs out there (including this blog) and you'll see a not-so flattering reflection of our culture today.
Yep, on the surface, it really looks flat. But if you look closely you'll see that Bono is still here and as popular as ever, thanks to the blogosphere. People from all over the world can appreciate and learn from the genius of Hitchcock, thanks to YouTube. And I had no idea who W.G. Sebald was, but thanks to Wikipedia I found a link to his last interview at Guardian Unlimited.
So, sorry Andrew, Socrates maybe on your elite side, but I can't help but imagine what was going on in the minds of some elite monks and priests when the printing press was invented --
Gee, if they print the Bible, bring the Word to the masses, and allow everyone to read it then everyone will have their own interpretations instead of us doing the interpretations for them. We will lose our jobs. We will lose our eliteness. We will lose our powers. The Church will lose its powers!
And yes, they were right. The invention of the printing press changed the world. The Church eventually lost most of its powers. It ushered the age of scholarships, scientific revolution and the age of Enlightenment. It paved the way for the "cream of the crops" (authors, artists) to rise on top. And most of all, it stimulated the literacy of lay people. Yes, along with it came published materials that were rubbish. Charlatans, politicians, and various propagandists had used the printing press for their own self-interests. But all in all the invention of the printing press had done more good than bad. As John Naisbitt would say, in his excellent book Mind Set!,
"Don't forget the ecology of technology." -- "New technologies should enable us. When something new is introduced, we should ask ourselves how things will improve or get worse." -- "What new opportunities does it present?"
Big media and traditional media are still here. It's up to them to adapt to the hyper-changing landscape of our culture. And they are adapting! CNN, CBS, and other mainstream media are now embracing Youtube. BIG media is still big and getting bigger. They are still elite and will always will. Who owns Myspace, anyway? Who owns AOL, anyway? Where do (responsible) bloggers link to for accurate news sources? Where do Wikipedia articles link to for external information?
But still, Andrew Keen's criticisms need to be heard, we all need to be reminded of our personal responsibilities for media literacy. And since the Web 2.0 genie is already out, the burden of media literacy rests on all our shoulders. So we just have to deal with it. Just like those lay people did after the printing press was invented.
P.S. Speaking of media literacy, I invite you to subscribe and check out the following videos. I bet you can't get that on your cable channels :)
Access: Public
I don't like dealing with Web 2.0. I would've once defended it, as you know - in a perfunctorily-generated polemic- with disastrous results, but now I find it tiresome and, really… kind of depressing.
I suppose I'm just being silly. You're right. It's here, and in a way its one of the more unique things culture has ever had to “deal with” because whatever those dealings are- affect the thing you're dealing with. Fucken A!
Didn’t get to watch the video yet, but as with most powerful developments, it does seem like Web 2.0 is double-edged. No sense trying to prevent the inevitable from occuring, though. Democratization of media will smear the culture out in some undesirable ways, but so will it give a voice and a face to those who mainstream corporate media have reason to ignore. Great post!
“If you democratize media, then you end up democratizing talent. The unintended consequence of all this democratization, to misquote Web 2.0 apologist Thomas Friedman, is cultural 'flattening.' No more Hitchcocks, Bonos, or Sebalds. Just the flat noise of opinion-Socrates's nightmare.”
Did either of the following - Socrates, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad - write a book ?
Having listened patiently to the whole of this video Andrew Keen can only be described as
YET A.N.OTHER of the AGE OLD SELF-INTERESTED “LEFT-LEANING” CHATTERING CLASSES making their living by pontificating about HOW they know best.
Web 2.0 and what IT evolves into - IS & will ever continue to BE - THE ONLY set of technologies / tool-set which will - Let the PEOPLE decide - AND NO COMBINATION of ANY ALTERNATIVE MEDIA KNOWN to HOMO SAPIENS - could facilitate what IS HAPPENING @zaadz today …
AND THAT IZ A FACT !