Looks like a timely reality check book
Siegel's book is a jeremiad against the ills the Internet has visited upon our lives. He raises important points, many of them previously made by others but forcefully recapitulated here: the Web's role in promoting social isolation; the confusion of popularity -- voting for favorites -- with true democracy; the economic motives driving the Web, and the use of "participatory culture" as a lure for customers; the constant delivery of undigested information bits, knowledge "withering away into information."
As an antidote, he calls for the return of the editor, reviewer, expert, artist -- all the learned and experienced people swept out in the Web's shameless glorification of indiscriminate self-expression. His position is unpopular, branded "elitist," but it needs to be said: All people are created equal, but all opinions are not.
No comments:
Post a Comment