Amateur culture is bad?

   

   As the Internet spread, a lot of media content and sites have been invented and they have made our life more convenient. One of them is Wikipedia, “the collaboratively created encyclopedia”(Shirky, 109). In Wikipedia, everyone has the right to edit pages equally. However, Keen criticizes Wikipedia in the cult of the amateur. This is because people who edit pages of Wikipedia are all amateurs. According to Keen, an amateur is a hobbyist (36), not an expert. In other words, he wants to say that Wikipedia’s editors don’t have enough knowledge to talk about technical knowledge. That is why he insists that Wikipedia lacks trust. In addition, he argues that only professionals, for example lawyers and musicians, have the right to make and state something, because they are educated (63). He even says that cultures and content made by amateurs threatens the world and are worthless (60).

   However, do amateurs really threaten the world of culture and is the content made by amateurs as worthless as Keen says? I don’t think so. I would like to take up an example, VOCALOID. In How Virtual Pop Star Hatsune Miku Blew Up in Japan, a lot of people are addicted to Hatsune Miku and hold live concerts even though she is a virtual character. Her songs are made using VOCALOID by amateurs. If people have VOCALOID, anyone can make a song. VOCALOID is really famous and has become a sort of music culture in Japan. Some people who make popular songs are known as “VOCALO P” (P means producer) and make a living by making VOCALOID songs.

   There are a lot of songs using VOCALOID that have spread through YouTube and other video hosting services. Therefore, I think VOCALOID has been established as a new culture and doesn’t threaten existing cultures. Furthermore, as you can see many people are addicted to VOCALOID, we cannot say it is a worthless culture. That is why I disagree with Keen’s opinion. I think the culture made by amateurs has a same value as other cultures.