• British entrepreneur and academic Andrew Keen is the founder of AfterTV and author of the book, The Cult of the Amateur (2007). Keen is a frequent critic of Internet culture, and of distributed or merit-driven online social economies, which he sees as inefficient and ultimately harmful to serious creative endeavors.

  Keen has written and lectured extensively, both in connection with The Cult of the Amateur, and generally, in regard to the effects of amateur content creation on Western culture. He blogs at his website, The Great Seduction, and has written op-ed pieces for The Weekly Standard, The Guardian Unlimited, The Independent, and other publications.

  Keen's opinions have placed him at odds with other Internet and new media thinkers such as Kevin Kelly, and especially Lawrence Lessig.

• Fast Facts:

  1. Born: February 3, 1960
  2. Birthplace: North London, United Kingdom
  3. Education:
     1. Bachelor's, University of London
     2. Masters's, Political Science, University of California at Berkeley
  4. Taught At:
     1. Tufts University
     2. Northeastern University
     3. University of Massachusetts
  5. Founded:
     1. AudioCafe.com (1995 - 2000)
     2. AfterTV (2005 - present)
  6. Compares Web 2.0 to utopian vision of Karl Marx

• Quotes:

  1. "[E]very good movement needs a contrarian. Web 2.0 has Andrew Keen." —The San Francisco Chronicle
  2. "I get called a Luddite, but in private a lot of people agree with me."—Keen, via The London Times

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