Throughout the first chapter of Andrew Keen’s The Cult of the Amateur, Keen expresses his thoughts and feelings about Web 2.0. Keen begins by explaining the positive benefits that the new and improved Internet will have. Shortly after, Keen seems to develop a different viewpoint after attending the FOO (Friends of o’Reilly) Camp. Keen realizes that his fantasy to have, “music playing from every orifice” was not even close to the goals and fantasies of any of the other campers. According to Keen, “FOO Camp is where the countercultural Sixties meets the free-market Eighties meets the technophile Nineties.”
Keen makes a good point when explaining how the things being posted on Web 2.0 seem to be all user-produced material, leaving the honest reviews left in the dust. More and more things are being published anonymously, making it harder to track down the author. In this chapter, it is also stated that the community agrees on consensus. It doesn’t matter if the statement is true or false. It is hard to find the truth these days.
I think that Keen uses the argument of evaluation in, “The Great Seduction.” He had a vision of what Web 2.0 would be like and had to watch it change. There was nothing he could do about it. Keen also uses a few standpoints of proposal, as well as fact. Keen proposes his facts and uses his opinions to try to back up those facts. I noticed myself beginning to agree with Keen while reading this chapter. It is no secret how much of an impact social media has on our culture. We trust search engines with information more than we would with loved ones or family members. We also trust that our information is kept private when it is really being sold to advertising companies. This truly shows how much of an impact social media has on our culture.
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