Difference between revisions of "Andrew Keen"
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Andrew Keen is a British-American entrepreneur and author, particularly known for his concerns about the Internet undermining culture and the authority of experts. | Andrew Keen is a British-American entrepreneur and author, particularly known for his concerns about the Internet undermining culture and the authority of experts. | ||
| − | Keen earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of London and a master's degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, studying under Ken Jowitt | + | Keen earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of London and a master's degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, studying under Ken Jowitt. |
| + | He has taught at Tufts University, Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts. | ||
| − | Keen's Silicon Valley career began in 1995 | + | ==Entrepreneurial activities== |
| − | + | Keen's Silicon Valley career began in 1995 with the founding of audiocafe.com, which received funding from Intel and SAP. The firm folded in January 2000. After the demise of audiocafe.com, Keen worked at Pulse 3D, SLO Media, Santa Cruz Networks, Jazziz Digital, Pure Depth and AfterTV, which he founded in 2005. | |
| − | Keen currently writes about media on his site thegreatseduction.com, which redirects to his blog. Keen also produces a podcast on AfterTV | + | ==Criticism of Web 2.0== |
| + | Keen currently writes about media on his site thegreatseduction.com, which redirects to his blog. Keen also produces a podcast on AfterTV. | ||
| − | + | His book The Cult of the Amateur (2007) is critical of free, user-based information-gathering Web sites such as Wikipedia, was published on June 5, 2007, by Doubleday Currency. | |
| − | In The Weekly Standard, Keen wrote that Web 2.0 is a "grand utopian movement" similar to "communist society" as described by Karl Marx. He stated it "worships the creative amateur: the self-taught filmmaker, the dorm-room musician, the unpublished writer. It suggests that everyone — even the most poorly educated and inarticulate amongst us — can and should use digital media to express and realize themselves. Web 2.0 'empowers' our creativity, it 'democratizes' media, it 'levels the playing field' between experts and amateurs. The enemy of Web 2.0 is 'elitist' traditional media." He describes Free Culture proponent Lawrence Lessig as an "intellectual property communist", | + | In The Weekly Standard, Keen wrote that Web 2.0 is a "grand utopian movement" similar to "communist society" as described by Karl Marx. He stated it "worships the creative amateur: the self-taught filmmaker, the dorm-room musician, the unpublished writer. It suggests that everyone — even the most poorly educated and inarticulate amongst us — can and should use digital media to express and realize themselves. Web 2.0 'empowers' our creativity, it 'democratizes' media, it 'levels the playing field' between experts and amateurs. The enemy of Web 2.0 is 'elitist' traditional media." He describes Free Culture proponent Lawrence Lessig as an "intellectual property communist", whom he "particularly detests". |
Keen discusses often overlooked problems with participatory technology. He describes the internet in amoral terms, saying it is a mirror of our culture. "We see irreverence, and vitality, and excitement. We see a youthfulness. But we also see, I think, many of the worst developments in modern cultural life, and, in particular, I think we see what I call digital narcissism, this embrace of the self. It's Time magazine's person of the year for last year, was you." | Keen discusses often overlooked problems with participatory technology. He describes the internet in amoral terms, saying it is a mirror of our culture. "We see irreverence, and vitality, and excitement. We see a youthfulness. But we also see, I think, many of the worst developments in modern cultural life, and, in particular, I think we see what I call digital narcissism, this embrace of the self. It's Time magazine's person of the year for last year, was you." | ||
