Yahoo Publishing Network blog editor Michael Mattis had some choice words for author Andrew Keen, who decried the modern day Internet's impact on culture.



Mattis opened up his rebuttal of Keen's book, The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing our Culture, by citing the demonization of television way back in 1961 by then-FCC head Newton Minow, who likened a day of television from sign-on to sign-off as a "vast wasteland."

(Aside to our younger readers: once upon a time, TV stations did not broadcast 24 hours a day. Instead of informercials at 3 am, you'd see the American flag waving on the screen.)

Keen's assessment of the Internet follows Minow's thought. Mattis thinks of Keen's book as a polemic that misses out on a number of instances where the Web supports culture rather than impeding it.

Such missives are best when they include a zinging personal attack, and Mattis delivered one:

Keen’s thesis suffers from its internal contradictions. For one, he roundly condemns blogging as an infinite number of monkeys banging away on an infinite number of typewriters. Yet Keen himself writes a blog. I guess he is the one monkey who can blog-up a script for Hamlet. In another instance, Keen cites poll stats to support his thesis. Then, a few pages later, he tells us that there is no wisdom in the wisdom of crowds. Apparently people only know what they’re talking about when what they say supports his ideas.

The Internet presents an avenue to all kinds of distractions, both deep and shallow. If one must complain about culture, take aim at the work culture in the US that keeps many people working lots of hours while providing little free time to enjoy the local library, let alone a play or concerto the night before a work day.

Internet, Web 2.0, Culture