Essay 3 Final

Blake Harrington

English 155

23 November 2009

J. Huey

Asher Roth’s Discovery By Web 2.0

In Steven Johnson’s “Its All About Us,” he is arguing that blogging is not a way for people to be experts and rule Wikipedia or express their better knowledge over their professional equivalents. Johnson proclaims that, “These people aren’t challenging David Brooks or George Will; they’re just writing about their lives and the lives of their friends” (Johnson 447). He states that blogging is to express people’s lives and their opinions on the world today. Myspace and Facebook are good examples of these blogs. People post what they are doing or how they feel, or even on political issues. This is not wrong at all and people are granted the right to state whatever they would like on their blogs. Brian Williams, in “Enough about You,” that “The danger just might be that we miss the next great book or the next great idea, or that we fail to meet the next great challenge…” (Williams 450). While Williams praises the fact that society has come to recognize everyone and be more about “You.” He feels that it is a negative aspect of society because people are too busy worrying about themselves that we are not prepared to deal with challenges that come up in the real world. This is bad because we have a large country to run and this can pose a great problem because people are too into themselves and what they have to do, rather than dangers we face as an entire country. Agreeing with Steven Johnson’s article, that Web 2.0 has given an arena for “local conversations that involve experiences that experts in traditional media have largely ignored…”(448); Asher Roth is a self made, Caucasian, hip-hop artist that made it big because of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 gave Roth the chance, through Myspace, to become a major star because the music industry is extremely tough to get into, allowed him to present his music, through a predominantly black industry, and because he was white people became more attracted to him.

Johnson proclaims that Web 2.0 is not negative, and that it has given people chances to use the Internet as a place to voice their opinions, their feelings, and show their artistic abilities. In his article, Johnson’s says, “What’s so interesting about those local conversations is that they involve experiences that the experts in traditional media have largely ignored…”(448). People are now allowed to voice their opinions and show off their abilities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, “The vast number of people with the desire to perform will continue to greatly exceed the number of openings” (Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment). This statistic shows that the music industry is extremely competitive. Johnson’s idea proposes that the Internet helps people to get their voices out. With, “22.4 million (35 percent) [doing] so daily; more than double the size of the audience last year” (Cellular-News), using the Internet, the chances of people having their voices heard is extremely large.

Asher Roth was born in Morrisville, 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. Growing up, Roth was exposed to little hip-hop. During sophomore year, at West Chester University, Roth posted some of his verses on his Myspace page and sent a Friend Request to Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and former VP of Marketing for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def. One week after speaking to Braun, Roth flew down to Atlanta and was immediately signed by Braun, who subsequently became his manager. This is not proving that Roth used Myspace as a marketing tool, but he used it to voice himself and because of it, he was heard. Web 2.0 gave Roth the chance to be heard in a music industry that is almost impossible to even be given a glance by producers.

Johnson’s ideas promote how great Web 2.0 is. Web 2.0 allows people to post bulletins on how their day is going, blog about a specific topic, and for people to share and download music. This idea that Johnson proposes coincides with Asher Roth’s beginnings. He began rapping songs and one day he posted a bulletin on Myspace and because of that bulletin, he was discovered. If this opportunity was never available to Roth, the competitive music industry would still be ignoring him. What other way could Asher Roth have been discovered?

These reasons are proved by Johnson’s idea that, “These people aren’t challenging David Brooks or George Will; they are just writing about their lives and the lives of their friends” (447). Johnson’s idea states that Web 2.0 is not about correcting somebody who is wrong, rather it is about voicing your self. Local communities can talk politics, school issues, and even race issues. Asher Roth’s posting was music. He posted his music in a bulletin and expected nothing, but ended up with a wonderful opportunity.

In a predominantly black industry, Asher Roth was able to get his music into mainstream society, and become successful, due to Web 2.0. Roth was able to be noticed as a white individual because of video streaming. This is also another excellent aspect of Web 2.0. This was very significant for Roth because his music is targeted towards college students, and the video showed that he was both young and studious looking, and also that he was white. Him being white played a lot in his success because for a white artist to be a skilled rapper is very rare. The only other white rapper is Eminem. This coincides with Johnson’s point because Web 2.0 is all about the people and it gave Roth the power to show people who he really was. Did Asher Roth using video prove that Web 2.0 is all about the people?

Johnson’s feeling is that Web 2.0, “For some, it has power-to-the-people authenticity” (447). This means that the people run the Internet, and they have the ability to voice what they would like, and have any opinion they might have. Asher Roth used the power-to-the-people authenticity by posting his video, showing people who he really was. Being a young white rapper poses many struggles, and he needed this video stream to show how unique he was. Having the power to voice yourself and become noticed is so positive, and good for society. It allows people to use the rights given to them by the Constitution, and for many people, Web 2.0 gives them a feeling of pride. It also gives people opportunities that are usually ignored in mainstream society.

In opposition to this point, are the millions of people who are trying to be heard on MySpace andYouTube, These critics believe that Web 2.0 hasn’t given them any better of a chance to become noticed. They might be right because of the great volume of people trying to be heard. According to TechCrunch, in 2006, “YouTube has announced its hit 100 million videos served per day”. That is in 2006, imagine what it is today. Just because they have not been noticed, doesn’t mean others have not either. Many people are becoming famous because of Web 2.0, but those who aren’t just aren’t talented enough, or aren’t trying hard enough to become noticed. Web 2.0 is going to be the new talent show online, and those who are skilled will have great opportunities brought to them, just like Asher Roth did.

Steven Johnson argues that Web 2.0 is not being used to challenge the writings of experts, yet it is used for people to voice themselves. People are just writing about their lives and the lives of their friends. He states that bogging is to express people’s lives and their opinions on the world today. Brian Williams feels that Web 2.0 has made people less careless of the important things that are going on with our society. He also feels that people can choose what they listen too, making them more careless. He feels that it is a negative aspect of society because people are too busy worrying about themselves. Web 2.0 has given people the ability to discuss whatever they would like, and without it, they would be ignored. People are able to discuss how they feel about life, about politics, racial issues, and even just to vent their stress. Web 2.0 is going to give artists that are regularly overlooked a chance to show their abilities easier.

Web 2.0’s future is going to be nothing but growth. There will be many people that will be against it, like Brian Williams, but Web 2.0 will only become more helpful and useful. It will definitely become more dynamic to those who are being ignored by society. Also, Web 2.0 will become more democratic because the whole idea is about the people. Although there is a lot of nonsense material on the Internet already, there will definitely be more because Web 2.0 will have many more users. If people regulate what is put up on the Internet, the information will retain its accuracy.

Annotated Bibliography

Johnson, Steven. "It's All About Us". Signs of Life 2009: 446-448.

This article discusses Steven Johnsons opinion on Web 2.0. Johnson feels Web 2.0 has given people a chance to voice their opinions. This source is credible because Johnson has written other works along with this. He is for one side, but he does acknowledge the opposing viewpoint. It was helpful because my argument was based off of his.

"Mobile Internet Becoming A Daily Activity For Many". Cellular-News. 23 November 2009 .

This article discusses the growing number of people using the internet with their cell phones. Also States how cell phones are now able to access Web 2.0. Source is credible because it provides great amounts of statistics from credible agencies. It is a good source if you need numbers, as it is not arguing any point. I used this site to prove a statistic.

"Musicians, Singers, and Related Workers". Bureau of Labor Statistics. 23 November 2009 .

This article discusses the job of a musician, singer, and related artists. It discusses pay, employment numbers, expected growths or drops, and the education needed for this job. The source is very credible because the government runs it. It is mainly only a good site to use for information on jobs. I used the source for a statistic.

YouTube Serves 100m Videos Each Day. Tech Crunch, 17 July 2006. Web. 2 Dec. 2009. .

This article discusses YouTube’s announcement of its serving of 100 million videos a day. It is a credible source, because it has quotes from YouTube officials. It is not an argumentative source, so it is mainly good for business related information or statistics. I used it as a statistic for evidence.