The Nov. 4 election will be a spectacular display of the power of a new generation of Americans. I call them the Net Generation because they’re the first to grow up digital, and in this election year they’ve shown that their revolutionary model of working collaboratively online can topple powerful leaders and, if the polls are right, even make history.
Around the world this generation is flooding into the workplace, marketplace, and every niche of society. They are bringing their demographic muscle, media smarts, purchasing power, and new models of collaboration. While some dismiss them as “screenagers,” with short attention spans, low IQs, and zero social skills, they are a remarkably bright generation that has developed revolutionary new ways of thinking, interacting, working, and socializing. They are an unprecedented force for change.
Consider how they helped Senator Barack Obama win the Democratic nomination and, most likely, the Presidency.
In Sync with Obama
It’s no surprise that Obama has captured most of the youth vote. They overwhelmingly disapprove of President George W. Bush, and they’re leaning harder to the Democratic side than their Gen X predecessors. Their attitudes toward social and economic policies put them in sync with the Obama campaign. Inspired by Obama, they been politicized this year. Youth turnout in some primaries tripled from 2004. Although only half of the youngest American voters turned out for the 2004 Presidential election, it’s likely they will vote in unprecedented numbers this time.
But their true power as a force for change in politics stems from their ability to organize themselves online, without waiting for instructions from the head office. Obama, unlike his more powerful rivals in the Democratic primary race, tapped into this phenomenal power. In 2007, Chris Hughes, then the 23-year-old co-founder of Facebook, took over as director of the Obama online organizing effort. He…