I too have been thinking a lot about this, not least in the context of the subterranean self-publishing that I have been recently documenting from the late stages of the Soviet rock scene. Keen is trolling mainstream and new media for personal gain, but he does more damage to mainstream media than new media by offering reasons not to act. The web is many inflection points. But it clearly now is in a special period.

Whether it is the Soviet Union, or newspapers, well-established cashflows attract more than their fair share of what economists call rent seekers. When the rationale for those cashflows starts to break down, there will be howls of protest from the rent seekers and their representatives. The creators of new cashflows are the entrepreneurs. Because many of them start from outside the system they can look unwashed and amateur and they will be disdained. The truth that I observe all over the web is actually professionals connecting with one another in communities or reaching audiences directly. I seem to skirt the trashy amateur with a blink. I don’t invite it into my Google Reader so I don’t see that much of it.

Tim