Our Next Generation: Generation E – The Engaged Generation

Here Comes Clay Shirky: Where is My Mouse?

In my last post, I wrote about Clay Shirky and the importance of promise, tool, and bargain in social media.

Shirky makes me think. After watching the video below it made me think that the next generation could be called: Generation E – The Engaged Generation.

This is a 16 minute video with Clay Shirky (Clay Shirky at Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008) on dwelling in the architecture of participation. 

I believe Shirky demonstrates how social media creates the conditions for engagement and this makes social media a fantastic tool for employee engagement because social media itself is designed for engagement.

A few of the points from his video:

• It is better to do something than to do nothing.
• We like to consume, produce, and share. We will often take up the offer to become producers rather than passive consumers (engagement).
• We move from passive recipients of information to active constructions of knowledge with social media.
• Watch to the end of this video to hear his story of a friend’s 4 year old daughter who looked for a mouse on her DVD. This 4 year old expected to participate in what she was viewing not just sit and watch.
• We are looking for a mouse…carve out cognitive surplus to turn people into engaged participants.

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The Next Generation. With the newest generation now being embedded in social media I suggest we call it Generation E: The Engaged Generation.