Why Today's College Students are the "Next. Great. Generation."

Jack Myers is a media ecologist and the author of a new study on the small generation of 212 million young people born between 19911995 most of whom are now in college His book on this research is titled Hooked Up A New Generation39s Surprising Take on Sex Politics and Saving the World In the first scene of the premiere episode of Aaron Sorkin39s controversial HBO series Newsroom news anchor Will McEvoy responds to a college coed39s question on what makes America the greatest nation in the world by berating her and calling her part of the quotWorst Generation Everquot In this season39s final episode McEvoy withdraws his criticism and tells that same coed she39s the reason America is a great countryOn tour this summer promoting my new book Hooked Up I39ve been challenging McEvoy39s and Sorkin39s negative vision of America39s college students I39m gratified that Sorkin39s view of today39s young people and mine are now on the same wavelength and I39m confident the current generation of college students born 1991 to 1995 are not only not the Worst Generation Ever but may prove to be the Next Great Generation leading a transcendental transformation over the next two decades into a period of economic social and political stability and balanceContrary to popular perception today39s college students and their Internetcentric perspective on society business and culture will be highly sought after and in demand by large and small businesses institutions and organizations The Hooked Up Gen will bring to the workplace to politics to education and even to family life advanced social media skills along with a set of fundamental beliefs about human rights equality diversity fair pay globalization and worklife balance On the Internet individuals are judged by the quality of their ideas and their willingness to put them out there and little else fostering a noted lack of prejudice among this age cohort Growing up in an environment where such things are of secondaryamp8211amp8211if anyamp8211amp8211importance has given them open minds They39ve grown up accessing chat rooms and social networks where they routinely communicate with peers from all over the world This can only improve their performance in the workplace enhance diversity and improve corporate embrace of the growing multicultural consumer populationThe Hooked Up Gen are experts at multitasking complex conversations through multiple modes of media Examples include the ease with which they upload videos to YouTube create podcasts and maintain multiple text conversations while doing homework Put in charge of projects where these skills are an asset as most projects will be into the foreseeable future they can outperform older colleagues despite any perceived shortcomings in other communication arenas Applying their unique skills and qualities they will gain authority and influence in all spheres of society business and cultureTraditional organizational models and legacy barriers to change in the corporate political educational and entertainment worlds are breaking down in the socially interconnected Internetbased environment The Hooked Up Gen are very comfortable ignoring these structures and the hierarchical barriers that distance senior management and leaders from their newest colleagues They are techsavvy at a level previous generations don39t begin to approach Today39s college students are the first to have grown up with constant Internet access giving them a quotfrontrowquot view of people with no extraordinary connections achieving real and important success and communicating it effectively Whether they39re looking at the rise of a simple Internet meme on YouTube or watching hours of TED talks this age group understands and has internalized human potential in a way previous generations couldn39tFurthermore they39ve freely commented in response to professional news gathering organizations corporate blogs and oped columnists Social sites such as Pinterestcom offer them a new form of response and criticism Facebook Twitter and YouTube empower their opinions on just about any subject They are equals online and expect their voices and opinions to be acknowledged and heard by corporate executives politicians educators media pundits and news anchors as well Thanks to their sophisticated understanding of the Internet they have the resources to assure their voices are heard and represented By combining their social networking sophistication their fearless capacity to ignore corporate hierarchy and crash through glass ceilings and their ability to telecommute and access information globally the Hooked Up Gen will lead a movement toward corporate and political collaboration at an unprecedented level Their influence will extend to the arts education medicine politics business marketing religion and other areas where decisionmaking has been closed and hierarchicalThe Internet will be increasingly influential in business politics education media and the arts medicine law global relations and all aspects of human interaction The Hooked Up generation of Internet Pioneers today39s college students will be increasingly called on to manage and lead this new world responsibly effectively and intelligently I believe they are not only going to be up to the challenge and will prove to be highly valuable to employers organizations and institutions in all sectors of the global economyHooked Up A New Generation39s Surprising Take on Sex Politics and Saving the WorldBy Jack MyersAvailable at Amazon paperback BN paperback Kindle and Nook

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