The Cult of the Amateur

A new, updated edition, with a new foreword of Andrew Keen's witty and provocative polemic against the rise of user-generated content and the anything goes standards of much online publishing, which set the blogosphere and media alight on publication.

Dubbed the 'anti-christ' of Silicon Valley and a dot-com apostate, Andrew Keen is the leading contemporary critic of the Internet. and The Cult of the Amateur is a scathing attack on the mad utopians of Web 2.0 and the wisdom of the crowd. Keen argues that much of the content filling up YouTube, MySpace, and blogs is just an endless digital forest of mediocrity which, unconstrained by professional standards or editorial filters, can alter public debate and manipulate public opinion.

“Andrew Keen has had the temerity to point out that our search for instant wisdom through, say, Google and Wikipedia provides not necessarily what is most true or reliable--merely what is most popular. I read it in one sitting then went outside to fish for our supper, firmly believing that the poor fish that swallows my squirming worm on a barbed hook is infinitely smarter than the idiot on the other end holding the rod.”

For anyone who thinks that technology alone will make for a better democracy, Andrew Keen will make them think twice. - Andrew Rasiej, founder, Personal Democracy Forum

Very engaging, and quite controversial and provocative. He doesn t hold back any punches. - Dan Farber, editor-in-chief, ZDNet

Important... will spur some very constructive debate. This is a book that can produce positive changes to the current inertia of web 2.0. - Martin Green, VP of Community, CNET

This is a powerful, provocative and beautifully written stop-and-breathe book in the midst of the greatest paradigm shift in information and communications history. - Chris Schroeder, CEO, Health Central Network and former CEO, WashingtonPost/Newsweek online

Andrew Keen is a brilliant, witty, classically-educated technoscold and thank goodness. The world needs an intellectual Goliath to slay Web 2.0 s army of Davids. - Jonathan Last, online editor, The Weekly Standard

Andrew Keen has had the temerity to point out that our search for instant wisdom through, say, Google and Wikipedia provides not necessarily what is most true or reliable merely what is most popular. I read it in one sitting then went outside to fish for our supper, firmly believing that the poor fish that swallows my squirming worm on a barbed hook is infinitely smarter than the idiot on the other end holding the rod. - The Observer - That s the best thing we ve read all year

A staggering new book by Andrew Keen. He is an English-born digital media entrepreneur and Silicon Valley insider who really knows his stuff and he writes with the passion of a man who can at last see the dangers he has helped unleash. His book will come as a real shock to many. It certainly did to me. - Daily Mail

Keen deserves to be taken seriously... I admire his bravery in arguing against the vociferous IT crowd. - Management Today - Books of the Year

Andrew Keen hosts the acclaimed podcast show, AfterTV, and his views have generated a firestorm of interest.

A new, updated edition, with a new foreword of Andrew Keen's witty and provocative polemic against the rise of user-generated content and the anything goes standards of much online publishing, which set the blogosphere and media alight on publication. Dubbed the 'anti-christ' of Silicon Valley and a dot-com apostate, Andrew Keen is the leading contemporary critic of the Internet. and The Cult of the Amateur is a scathing attack on the mad utopians of Web 2.0 and the wisdom of the crowd. Keen argues that much of the content filling up YouTube, MySpace, and blogs is just an endless digital forest of mediocrity which, unconstrained by professional standards or editorial filters, can alter public debate and manipulate public opinion.

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