Keen Questions

1.      Keen defines democratized media as media that everyone has fair access to. Media that any person has a say in whether or not they are qualified is democratized media. Like democracy in politics, where any untrained and uneducated citizen can vote for something as important as the next president, democratized media allows any amateur writer or blogger to say whatever they want on the internet and have it be publicly viewable within seconds. Andrew Keen’s problem with this is that it takes away from the importance and power of expert and professionally trained writing in the media. For example, Keen writes in “The Great Seduction,” “democratization, despite its lofty idealization, is undermining truth, sourcing civic discourse, and belittling expertise, experience, and talent” (Keen 15). Since any person can write whatever they want on the internet, there is no one stopping them from writing false facts on legitimate-looking websites. A professional appearance can be deceiving when viewing a website and many people will believe false information written on particular sites. Keen’s main issue is that democratized media takes away from the power of a trained, educated individual, and gives equal power to an amateur. He also believes that it is too easy to share information and avoid giving credit. According to Keen, “Copyright and authorship begin to lose all meaning to those posting their mash-ups and remixing on the Web.”

2.      Andrew Keen and Douglas Rushkoff have similar views on new technology and the sudden interconnectedness of all humans on the web. Both believe that it has now become an enormous part of today’s culture, and both delve into the belief that it may be too much. However, it seems as though Keen took a more negative and harsher view on the situation. Keen attacks almost every aspect of new technology and “Web 2.0.” He says it takes away from the importance of expertise and trained scholars, and removes meaning from copyright and authorship due to vast and constant sharing capabilities. Rushkoff covers how new technology and constant interconnectedness on the internet has changed human behavior, and creates bad habits for many people. The documentary “Digital Nation” by Rushkoff exemplifies many situations in which internet and computer addiction has significantly changed the way the people operate and the world works. I believe Rushkoff speaks to me more effectively, because I think it is more interesting to see how the world is changing in terms of human behavior. While it is also interesting to see how the rise of the amateur is hurting society, I feel as though Keen’s negativity is too great and there are many upsides of the internet and social networking that Keen ignores. Overall, the truth is that both speak to me and I have learned much and considered new and different views because of them.