The influence of newspaper and magazine critics is on the wane. People don’t care to be lectured by professionals on what they should read or listen to or see. They’re increasingly likely to pay attention to amateur online reviewers, bloggers and Amazon critics like Klausner. Online critics have a kind of just-plain-folks authenticity that the professionals just can’t match. They’re not fancy. They don’t have an agenda. They just read for fun, the way you do. —Lev GossmanHarriet Klausner (Time)

Thanks for the suggestion, Mike.

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  • I'm sure I've blogged about this before, but I can't find a link.

    Anyway, Web 2.0 is an interesting concept that gives the "consumer's rights" movement something to smile about...

    Almost. It's the most cheap way to get PR, marketing and other services from the people that already support the company with consumption. Little to no compensation for labor doesn't sound like a consumer right to me. Some see this as a culture of "you." Almost like a community or network. I don't buy it that easily. I've seen this "community." Flickr, Google video, Amazon book reviews... it's like any medium today: completely owned and administered by corporate interest. Flooded with ads. Serves the corporate interests.

    It's a postmodern space, a bunch of simultaneous viewings of one individual person. That's not community. That's a network of individuals. I don't know... I sort of hold a high degree of skepticism with the effects of this "Web 2.0 revolution."

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Dennis G. Jerz