Author: Web full of amateurs

The author of a new book called “The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture” is taking aim at bloggers. According to a Reuters report, Andrew Keen, founder of Audiocafe, asserts that the Web is populated by “exuberant monkeys” who are “creating an endless digital forest of mediocrity.”

I don’t entirely agree with Keen’s assessment, but he is certainly right about the mediocrity. There are many bloggers out there spinning lies and spreading juvenile gossip. I believe, however, that the blogosphere is able to weed out the crap and uncover the good stuff. Just as there are awful movies, awful books, and awful TV shows, there will be awful blogs.

But what exactly makes a good blog? It’s debatable. Popular gossip rags like defamer.com and perezhilton.com are clearly spun by amateurs with sub-par writing skills, yet thousands of users click on them each day. It’s doubtful that Keen’s own blog has as much readership as those two sites.

What bothers me isn’t his opinion that the blogosophere is full of amateurs. It’s that he seems to believe he’s some sort of superior intellectual. Still, there’s no denying that his concerns are worthy of discussion. Who knows if it will change Web media in any significant way. If you think about it, Keen is simply taking action towards what every blogger really wants: lots of attention.

Fans go nuts — literally — for TV drama

A great — and humorous — example of the power of passion: fans of the CBS drama “Jericho” delivered 50,000 pounds of peanuts to the network as a protest against the cancellation of the show. “CBS, deluged with calls, messages and shipments of nuts signifying viewer displeasure, is reconsidering its decision,” the Associated Press reported. The show, after just one season on air, was being axed by CBS because of low ratings.

I wonder if something like this would have stopped ABC from canceling “My So-Called Life” 13 years ago?

Learn a little from Jobs and Gates

Even if you have no interest in the computer industry, it’s worth watching D5’s recent discussion with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to gain a little insight into the minds of these two geniuses. Despite their rivalry, their respect and admiration for each other are evident. They talk about teamwork, innovation and the future. You can download the free video podcast from iTunes or visit All Things Digital.

Here’s some wisdom from Jobs:

“People say you have to have a lot of passion for what you’re doing and it’s totally true. And the reason is because it’s so hard that if you don’t, any rational person would give up.”

“If you really look at the ones that ended up, you know, being ’successful’ in the eyes of society and the ones that didn’t, oftentimes, it’s the ones [who] were successful loved what they did so they could persevere when it got really tough. “

The downfall of Friendster

Silicon Valley’s former “It” guy, Jonathan Abrams, the founder of Friendster, tells his story to Inc. magazine. It’s a sobering tale about the rise and fall of one of the first social networking Web sites, as well as a profound lesson about misguided choices, recovering from adversity and learning from mistakes.