Democratized Media

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

Keen increasing talks in his book "The Great Seduction" about the democratized media. He discovered this term while at a FOO Camp and had no idea how greatly this would impact his life. Keen talks about how the internet is ruining our culture and not furthering it with the advances it is making in technology and the Web 2.0 world. Not only is the internet putting artists (musical and expressive) and journalists out of business but they are also having their work stolen on a consistent basis because it is put up on the free web for anyone to view. Also, new and easier downloads of such devices as movie makers and photo shop are putting movie makers and editors out of business as well. another issue Keen discusses is the fear that there is a growing meshing of truths with no one's personal individual truth prevailing. According to Keen this problem is "threatening the quality of civil public discourse, encouraging plagiarism and intellectual property theft, and stifling creativity". (Keen, p.17) 

Some examples I can give of Keen's fears coming to light are one's that can be viewed form my Public Relations interest stand point. Some of these Web 2.0 websites can be those that are against big companies such as Wal-Mart and have gone as far as to make hate web pages for them. http://wakeupwalmart.com/ <-- this link sends you to a page made by dissatisfied consumers putting down Wal-Mart's production tactics and their use of importing from other countries so we can have cheap (cost wise) merchandise. Other satirical examples of the Web 2.0 I can think of that I have come in direct contact with is the use of YouTube to make fun of how some news stations, such as this of Fox News and their anchors report the news http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adyau9YtaAE It is the use of these videos and editing software that allow any regular person who has a will to produce something will find an easy way to do it thanks to the evolving internet. 

2. Compare and Contrast Keens take on Social Media with Douglas Rushkoff's. Which one speaks to you and your own experiences and why?

Douglas Rushkoff and Andrew Keen's both have a very direct and almost derogatory view of where the world is heading in the sense of media and technology. Rushkoff and Keen's both believe that people are spending more and more of their time online and giving into this "corporation" or "democratization" as they both individually call it where there is the loss of individual and the expansion of one solitary view of the world which is that that can only be found on the Web. If I had to pick one of these views to understand and that I can relate most to it would be Rushkoff's. To me Keen's view of the internet is extremely pessimistic. He sees all the negatives in what the Internet has to offer but does not see all the jobs, and money, and the positive impacts that Web 2.0 has offered to the people of the World. Rushkoff's idea of our lives becoming a corporation I agree with completely. I think we can not only blame our lives revolving around media to advancement in technology but I also believe that social influences and the way corporations are run these days is a very influential part to how our lives our run. People have to be extremely multi tasked with their life styles like they are with their business life to be able to run their day to day activities and duties. There is a pro and a con to everything in this life and I believe people just need to have the ability to see what is important and real within their lives to understand how to use these devices to thier fullest potential.