My high school picked me as an alumni of the month for Feburary, and they are setting up a display case where they want me to send some awards and other things about me. But instead of doing this, I've decided to write an open letter directly to the students -- It's very influenced by the types of things that I've been reading for my open-source documentary, including Dan Gillmor's We The Media
TO THE STUDENTS OF BEECH GROVE HIGH SCHOOL:
My name is Kent Bye and I'm working on a documentary about the media.
Instead of telling you anything more about me -- Why don't we talk about you and the transforming world that you're going to be living in?
With the Internet, information will be the driving force of society.
The trick will be how to sift through all of this information and make sense of it all.
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) will be a key filtering technology, but you will also need to develop your own mental filtering processes.
You will have incredible access to information, but there is a difference between information and knowledge -- A college education will certainly help you navigate through this evolving landscape.
How are you going to survive in this new world?
I suggest looking at these trends before settling on a career path:
* Greater Interconnectedness
Websites, E-mail, Blogs & RSS are connecting people from all over the world.
The power will shift to these connected groups of people.
Economic globalization is also bringing down the borders of isolation.
Netflix & eBay are learning that specialized niche markets have huge buying power.* Centralized Institutions Become More Decentralized
Top-Down, Hierarchical control is going to be less effective in a connected society.
Bottom-Up, Grassroots organizations are going to continue to grow bigger & stronger.
Media & Government will be more influenced by groups of citizens acting together.*The Collective Becomes More Important than the Individual
Websites that connect people and bring them together will thrive -- The more connected we are, then the more we start to identify with and value the concerns of the larger group.* Firewalls Come Down & Become More Transparent.
Access to information will make it difficult for corporations and governments to be dishonest or secretive. Openness and transparency will be the only viable option.* Lectures Become Conversations
Collectively, all the students of Beech Grove High School know more than I do. So it's time for me to stop lecturing you and start a dialogue by asking you -- WHAT DO YOU THINK? Write a response and submit it to the front desk to be posted in this display.