Keen

1. How does Keen define Democratized media, and what are his main issues with this trend? use examples from the web in the form of links. Include this idea of "disintermediation".

Keen describes democratized media as content put out by the masses by use of the internet for everyone to view.  He finds faults in this "deomocratized media" because there is a lack of responsibilty and credibility by people posting their opinions or creative views. This goes hand-in-hand with the idea of folksonomy written about in my previous blog. This trend has lead people to feel a sense of entitlement to post their feelings, distort facts, and lead to an amatuer approach to articles, videos, blogs, etc. found on the web. Websites such as youtube.com allow users to to post amatuer videos that may devalue legitimate and credible works found on the website. The idea of "disintermediation" cuts out the middle man and leaves little to no supervision of what is posted on the interenet. Keen sees the oppurtunity and potential the internet has in allowing mass opinion and creativity to be exposed. However, it also leaves a question of "what will happen to legitimate and proffesional works?"

2. Compare and Contrast Keens take on Social Media with Douglas Rushkoff's. What are these differences in opinion? Which one speaks to you and your own experiences and why? You may include the ideas of such utopian technophiles as Larry Lessig, Chris anderson, and Jimmy Wales (who are these guys!?)

Keen and Rushkoff have opposing views on social media. Keen views it as a hazard to our society, while Rushkoff sees the upside of it. Rushkoff sees the potential of Web 2.0. He feels that if utilized properly the possibilities of the internet age are endless. The average person will have the same ability to voice their opinion and be as creative as those who control the mass media. Keen feels like the web will be the destruction of the word and the way people socialize and construct factless writings that the population will soak in. I believe Keen has a more realistic view of the internet. Too often I have found myself reading articles or watching amatuer videos releasing incorrect and creditless information. If left to the masses to decipher fact from opinion there will be a slew of misinformed people. Misinformation or interpretations could cause many problems within society regarding the way people think and interact. The internet has a great amount of power in today's society and I am not certain that it is ready to be unpatrolled.