{"product_id":"the-cult-of-the-amateur-how-blogs-myspace-youtube-and-the-rest-of-todays-user-generated-media-are-destroying-our-economy-our-culture-and-our-va-9780385520812","title":"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 Va","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmateur hour has arrived, and the audience is running the show\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a hard-hitting and provocative polemic, Silicon Valley insider and pundit Andrew Keen exposes the grave consequences of today's new participatory Web 2.0 and reveals how it threatens our values, economy, and ultimately the very innovation and creativity that forms the fabric of American achievement. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOur most valued cultural institutions, Keen warns--our professional newspapers, magazines, music, and movies--are being overtaken by an avalanche of amateur, user-generated free content. Advertising revenue is being siphoned off by free classified ads on sites like Craigslist; television networks are under attack from free user-generated programming on YouTube and the like; file-sharing and digital piracy have devastated the multibillion-dollar music business and threaten to undermine our movie industry. Worse, Keen claims, our \"cut-and-paste\" online culture--in which intellectual property is freely swapped, downloaded, remashed, and aggregated--threatens over 200 years of copyright protection and intellectual property rights, robbing artists, authors, journalists, musicians, editors, and producers of the fruits of their creative labors. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn today's self-broadcasting culture, where amateurism is celebrated and anyone with an opinion, however ill-informed, can publish a blog, post a video on YouTube, or change an entry on Wikipedia, the distinction between trained expert and uninformed amateur becomes dangerously blurred. When anonymous bloggers and videographers, unconstrained by professional standards or editorial filters, can alter the public debate and manipulate public opinion, truth becomes a commodity to be bought, sold, packaged, and reinvented. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe very anonymity that the Web 2.0 offers calls into question the reliability of the information we receive and creates an environment in which sexual predators and identity thieves can roam free. While no Luddite--Keen pioneered several Internet startups himself--he urges us to consider the consequences of blindly supporting a culture that endorses plagiarism and piracy and that fundamentally weakens traditional media and creative institutions. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOffering concrete solutions on how we can reign in the free-wheeling, narcissistic atmosphere that pervades the Web, THE CULT OF THE AMATEUR is a wake-up call to each and every one of us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Andrew Keen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Crown Currency\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/01\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.94h x 5.26w x 0.74d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780385520812\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/21\/2008 pg. 26\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eANDREW KEEN is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur whose writings on culture, media, and technology have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Weekly Standard\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFast Company\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe San Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eListener\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eJazziz\u003c\/i\u003e. As the Founder, President and CEO of Audiocafe.com, he has been featured in \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eIndustry Standard, \u003c\/i\u003e and many other magazines and newspapers. He is the host of the acclaimed Internet show \u003ci\u003eAfterTV\u003c\/i\u003e and frequently appears on radio and television. He lives in Berkeley, California.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Crown Currency","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43333218795635,"sku":"9.78039E+12","price":21.74,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/files\/img_ab8cb41a-4a22-4ff8-889c-15d46cd858c7.jpg?v=1754657838","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/the-cult-of-the-amateur-how-blogs-myspace-youtube-and-the-rest-of-todays-user-generated-media-are-destroying-our-economy-our-culture-and-our-va-9780385520812","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}