@jaymartinez tech was the core of the show as it drives the 'interactive'. So Nick's point is somewhat valid. in reply to jaymartinez 49 mins ago
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The skill that makes Generation Y better than us

Categories: Ruminations, Social MediaPosted on June 10th, 2007

What makes Generation Y better than us? Why will they succeed farther than we will in our generations? (I’m a late Gen X, for those who are asking). Is it the ability to multi-task? Their short attention span? The ability to memorize all the footwork for Dance Dance Revolution? The ability to pimp put a Scion so it looks like a Ferrari? Nope, none of the above.

What is this skill that they have? The ability to learn.

Generation Y has something that we didn’t have when growing up –instant access to information. They are surrounded by information that is just clicks away, a push of a button, on demand, in real-time, and now approaching mobile. I remember having to go the freaking library to do research, wow that was painful.

Experience will become less important to Generation Y, at least not in the way that we hold it so dear. Generation Y will be able wear many different hats, be flexible, and quickly learn on the fly. They need to simply know; how to find information, and how to apply it. It’s not hard for them, if they can’t find it using search tools or media tools, they can ask their peers and networks using online tools.

Now, for the rest of us, the trick will be able to figure out how to manage this group of fast learners.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 10th, 2007 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Ruminations, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Comments
  • BTW - as a point of disclosure, while technically I happen to be generation Y (1978), I consider myself a go-between because of the things that I was not a part of growing up. No cell phone until college, no computer until high school, actually used a typewriter for papers, etc.
  • Again, I mostly agree. The part of the whole process that still needs to evolve is certainly the ability to obtain (mostly) reliable information and discern that from either propaganda or false information. Certainly in the past with a limited amount of publications that everyone would sift through the scrutiny would be such that falsified or misleading info could be identified by many (I'm just thinking personally about academia at the moment). But the advent of so many new sources for information, it continues to be harder to sift and discern.

    On the whole the shift has been drastically advantageous for everyone.
  • eerr I meant Jason up above.

    I seer you point, the blind leading the blind? The key point is they are able to self teach themselves and will do so, whether it's from their peers or the internet.

    If one believes in collective intelligence from the web, than this can be a good thing.

    Personally, I've learned so much from my network by using social media tools, the information I'm digesting (real time info about tech and business) would never be in the library when I was in high school.
  • Lisa

    You used a typewriter? I did, but just in elementary school. Something tells me we're about the same age, we're both on the cusp

    I dont know your age, but there are some definitions here:

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client;=fire...
  • I'm not really sure where I belong (X or Y, it's debatable which generation my birth year falls under). But it's great to be part of both generations.

    I had a portable typewriter in high school to type my papers, which I researched in the library. I even know how to navigate my way through the Dewey Decimal System. Now we have a bunch of online resources that I can access from my couch at home. Having done done it the conventional way gives me so much more appreciation for things like my laptop and the Internet.

    And speaking of the Internet, I used to think telnet was sooo cool because it let me send email. And it let me view the library catalog too!

    Now we have Google, instant messaging. SMS (oh and I had one of those cell phones the size of a shoe box)...Oh. And blogs! I was a Journalism major nobody ever told me back then that I would have to learn html and css and blog.

    Luckily I'm able to learn stuff pretty fast. I'm part Generation Y.

    :-)
  • Being a Gen-Y-er myself, I can say that this is completely true. Since my early teenage years, the internet has been a prominent part of my life. I couldn't imagine life without it. We have information available to us not only by laptop or computer; but through PDA's, Ipods, and now of course the iPhone. We are basically slaves to media and hype-driven technology.. but I wouldn't have it any other way.
  • Thanks John, good insight
  • It’s not hard for them, if they can’t find it using search tools or media tools, they can ask their peers and networks using online tools.

    There is a definite downside to this mode of learning/problem solving that I continue to observe with the newer college aged students that I hire, in that they defer far to quickly to their peers and such to find answers rather than putting in a bit more time and research into coming up with a potential answer on their own.

    I also don't necessarily disagree with your accessment of searching and sorting data from one generation (say, mid-X and previous) to Gen-Y. You either have to adapt and learn, or you fall behind even more quickly.
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