Argumentation Web 2.0

             I decided to write my blog this week on the Web 2.0 subject. I think the author brought up some valid points but I have to disagree with him on most of them. Let me start by saying  the authors "end of the world" style of writing really turned me off. I don't believe the situation is quite as dire as he makes it out to be. Keen states that there will be an over abundance of authors, musicians and movie makers and that that influx will destroy the classics we now hold dear. I believe quite the opposite is true.  There have always been movie makers, artists and musicians.  However we only hear of the successful ones. Why do we only hear of the successful ones? Because they have something we want. If we don't like what someone has to say or make we disregard it. This holds true for how ever many artists there are.
              If everyone in the world suddenly became a writer, what difference would it make?  The people we want to read will make books.  The people we don't want to read will make hamburgers.
               Keen also says that the world will lose its Hitchcocks, Bonos, and Sebalds. The people he names are people who made it despite a great deal of competition and adversity. To say we will lose talent like that because there will be an influx of media is ridiculous at best and belittles the heroes he holds so dear. Competition drives success not dilutes it.
              Keens warning of an absent elite mainstream media that will result in a loss of our memory for things learned, read, experienced or heard holds no water. There is a huge amount of information that people deal with on a day to day basis. To say that people hold everything we read, hear or say as fact belittles peoples integrity in general. I remember the things I learn, not the things I'm taught, and I believe that holds true for most people.
                I believe keen needs to revisit some of the history on the renaissance. What we have today is an electronic renaissance and the great artists will succeed and the rest will fade. In the end we will ultimately benefit from the influx and some truly great authors, musicians, and movie makers we may have never heard of will enrich our lives.