Essential Education: Social Media Revolution:
It’s a interesting video, although the numbers may not be accurate. According to Burbeck, a commenter on YouTube (Yea, I know):
The concept is right. The numbers are wildly exaggerated, though. And it’s not just because they’re growing so fast. It’s because many of those numbers are unavailable in any accurate way. There is, indeed, a revoution taking place. You just hope it’s led by people who are more honest with their numbers.
As compelling as the video may be, I think that it misses the point. The big change is not that 96% of all Generation Y are members of some kind of social network. What’s much more exciting is that 100% of all people currently inhabiting the planet, have access to the tools necessary to create and distribute creative work. You don’t need a printing press to publish a book or a broadcasting antenna to air a television short.
It is less important that a college stopped giving out email addresses and more important that 10-year-olds can create quality digital media and publish it using the same channels as professionals. An eighth grade class can design an online newspaper just as polished as the Huffington Post, if they choose too.
I like social media as much as the next guy, but I think it’s a distraction from the much bigger and much more important sea change that is happening.
100 million people updating their Facebook status with what their cat ate for breakfast doesn’t interest me. 100 million people creating quality content is what excites me.
(Via Education Innovation.)
