People tweet pictures of their Credit Cards. Did you know that? No really…they do. See?

I’ve done some research based on a hunch, and it’s always young people doing this. Which makes sense….Digital Immigrants like most folks in their 30s or 40s (and older), would NEVER do this. But young folk? Young folk do. Why?

We Live In a Different World Now

People in their teens and 20s grew up with technology. They are not scared of it.

So much so that they feel quite comfortable sharing their Credit Card digits with the rest of the world. Which leads me to the next logical conclusion.

Anti-Facebook privacy loudmouths will lose out in the end. Kids coming up DON’T CARE about their privacy.

This may seam crazy to some, but maybe these kids are on to something? It’s not like my CC numbers can’t be copied every time a Waiter takes it in the back room where they keep the register. And somehow I feel fine about that, but I could NEVER tweet my CC for the world to see. Irrational? Yes.

Easy to Dismiss?

It would be easy to dismiss this as a fluke, or something that crazy, stupid kids do. But perhaps it’s a sign of the times. And if it is, shouldn’t we take a closer look?

In his TED Talk, Don Tapscott lays down 4 principles that the new generation has grown up with. These 4 principles permeate everything that the new generation does. From sharing their Credit Cards on Twitter, to starting a revolution in Tunisia.

“You think that social media is about hooking up online? For the kids in the Tunisian Revolution, it was a military tool to defend unarmed people from murderers.” ~Don Tapscott

So, what are these 4 principles the new generations has grown up with?

Openness

You know that sense of trepidation you experience every time someone mentions yet another must-have-presence-on social platform in a casual conversation?

The shiver goes down your spine just thinking about the friction and frustration you’ll experience trying to figure it out. Well, the new generation has no such fear.

“They (new generation) have no fear of technology, because it’s not there. It’s like the air. It’s sort of like, I have no fear of a refrigerator.” ~Don Tapscott

As someone who hasn’t been “bathed in bits” -as Don Tapscott puts it- it may seam counterintuitive for you to be “open”. But here’s what can happen if you’re able to overcome that fear.

Rob McEwen, Founder of Goldcorp was sitting on a mountain of data. But his geological survey team was unable to pin-point where they should dig for gold. So Rob did something radical for him, and his industry.

Goldcorp published all of its precious, proprietary, geological survey data, to the public. Not only that, they decided to reward half a million dollars in prize money for anybody who can tell them, do we have any gold, and if so, where is it?

The team that won the challenge didn’t consist of scientists trained in geological disciplines, but in computer graphic design. They created a 3D model based on data and were able to pin-point the location of gold.

Rob McEwen ended up finding 3.4 billion dollars worth of gold. The market value of his company went from 90 million to 10 billion dollars, and reportedly, he’s a very happy camper nowadays.

Why? Because he embraced a principle that the new generation has embedded in their DNA. Openness.

Transparency

“Just as the Internet drops transaction and collaboration costs in business and government, it also drops the cost of dissent, of rebellion, and even insurrection.” ~Don Tapscott

New generation demands Transparency. If Transparency is missing, then a scenario like the one played out by Julian Assange -of WikiLeaks fame- gets played out in the court of public opinion over and over again. And once your reputation as a government, corporation, or personhood is tarnished, it’s tarnished forever.

So having, and communicating your values and staying true to those core values becomes a matter of survival for entities which intend to thrive in the next generation.

“You need to have integrity as part of your bones and your DNA as an organization, because if you don’t, you’ll be unable to build trust, and trust is a sine qua non of this new network world.” ~Don Tapscott

Ya, I had no idea what “sine qua non” means either, so I looked it up.

Sine qua non refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient. A condition without which there is nothing. Thanks Wikipedia.

Sharing

Sharing is all about giving up assets.

There are many examples of big companies doing exactly that and making out like a bandit in the process.

IBM gave 400 million dollars of software to the Linux movement, which essentially means that IBM gave up the Intelectual Property (IP) rights to the software they themselves developed. How did that work out for them? It gave IBM a multi-billion dollar payoff, that’s how it worked out for them.

There are plenty of examples that show what happens when you horde assets instead.

The music industry reacted to Napster (most famously) by suing children for IP infringement. The only ones who made out on that deal were lawyers. The music industry is still in dire straits. And it will NOT survive its current incarnation.

“We need to think differently about intellectual property.” ~Don Tapscott

Empowerment

How is this thing we call Social Media being used outside of US?

Here’s what Don Tapscott shares in his video below:

During the Tunisian revolution, snipers associated with the regime were killing unarmed students in the street. So the students would take their mobile devices, take a picture, triangulate the location, send that picture to friendly military units, who’d come in and take out the snipers.

You think that social media is about hooking up online? For these kids, it was a military tool to defend unarmed people from murderers. It was a tool of self-defense.

Say You Want a Murmuration?

Zeus, the Greek ubergod fell from grace, along with the rest of the Greek pantheon, when people stopped praying to him.

In this short but amazing video, a flock (or murmuration) of tiny little Starlings was filmed defeating an attack by a much marger predator, by banding together.

Link in case video doesn’t load.

We have many gods who’s power is dependent solely on our worship of said god. And if we were to unite, in a murmuration of sorts, we would easily defeat that “god”.

It seams, we have much to learn from tiny little Starlings.

If you’re a blogger, check out the murmuration platform made to defeat the blogging pantheon.

Do yourself a favor and check out Don Tapscott’s video entitled Four Principles for the Open World.

Openness, Transparency, Sharing, and Empowerment.

It’s the blueprint encoded in new generation’s DNA. Is it in you?

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