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Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
-Bob Dylan

Some Cleveland-area businesses, officials, and citizens were frustrated in June when what was believed to be a flash mob disrupted an arts fair in Cleveland Heights. Take a peek:

Officials estimate that nearly 1,000 youth showed up spontaneously. Apparently there were random fights (though little information about these fights is provided in either the video or the Cleveland Plain Dealer's account).

This event, along with other alleged violent flash mobs, spurred Cleveland city council member Zach Reed (pictured, right) to introduce an ordinance criminalizing the use of social media - Facebook, Twitter, etc. - to organize crowds.

Under existing law, any member of a flash mob can be charged with disorderly conduct or other offenses carrying jail if there is a disturbance. Reed's legislation would have added a misdemeanor charge for summoning a crowd through social media. A first offense carried a $100 fine.

Reed said the new measure moved beyond "antiquated legislation" that never imagined social media.

To his credit, Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson vetoed that legislation this week, noting that while he is sympathetic to it's goal, the ordinance was not narrowly tailored enough to pass constitutional muster.

Reading about this on the heels of reading an articulate post by Sam DuPont at NDN - which calls for more examination of how social media can enhance civic engagement and social capital, I'm thinking about this flash mob issue in a few ways.

First, Reed's proposal to specifically criminalize social media-induced flash mobs is ridiculous. The last thing we need is another petty law on the books that we ask police officers to enforce, especially when we already have laws that address the issue. If a large group of people convenes and is hellbent on disrupting an otherwise peaceful event with violence, then the laws should be enforced. Some comments from festival attendees actually suggest that the Cleveland Heights PD efficiently defused the mob.

But instead, Reed - while admirably looking to solve the problem - throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Reed's proposed ordinance is far from being narrowly tailored. An Ohio ACLU official points out that the law could penalize innocent citizens; should two or three friends agree to meet up somewhere to talk, dance, listen to music, or whatever, and several others show up and cause problems, the two or three friends would bear the responsibility under this ordinance. In fact, what Reed proposes would have criminalized the actions of those young people abroad who used social media to gather and rally against their oppressive governments and in support of democracy. Effective government can't simply pass a broad, sweeping law and - voila! - expect results.

I'm not arguing that there isn't a problem to be solved when people congregate with the intention of disrupting a community. However, the question Cleveland and its suburbs should be asking is not "How are these youth organizing," as this legislation does, but "Why?" I wonder if it has something to do with 25 percent of teenagers in this country being unemployed? Perhaps many youth have nowhere left to gather, other than 24 hour Wal-Marts?

What is this subculture resisting? Perhaps it's not the suburban couple or family, but a society and community that seems to have forgotten about them?

I hope Zach Reed reads Sam DuPont's blog post. DuPont doesn't view social media as a menacing threat to society. Instead, he suggests that our communities and young people could benefit from a leveraging of these technological tools to increase social capital.

[I]f this generation is to rebuild American social capital, it needs fora in which to connect, build bonds, and establish the mutual obligations of social relationships. While the primary causes Putnam points to are immense, historical shifts, the secondary causes can be largely boiled down to the resultant decline of membership in general community organizations: churches, Rotary clubs, PTAs, etc. It's hard to imagine most of these organizations making a powerful comeback among the Millennial generation, and we're left with the question of where, exactly, Millennials will come together to build social bonds.

Another cause Putnam identifies as contributing an additional 10% toward the decline in social capital is "suburbanization, commuting, and sprawl." This trend has reoriented American communities away from the neighborhoods, downtown areas, corner bars, and public squares where social capital was once forged, to a landscape dominated by highways and strip malls where the closest thing to a shared public space can be found in the Caverns of Walmart. And so, in addition to the evaporation of civic groups, our shared physical spaces are also disappearing, and the question of where social capital can be created in the 21st century becomes still more confounding.

As you've no doubt guessed by now (Sorry this took so long. Actually, I'm not sorry at all. Brevity is for cowards.), the point I'm driving toward is this: with the decline of community organizations and associations, and the disappearance of shared public spaces, I look to new network technologies to bridge some of those gaps, and help create the shared public spaces of the 21st century.

Perhaps instead of fearing and resisting social media and flash mobs, the local government in Cleveland and its suburbs could make an effort to learn about and embrace these phenomena, while also trying to understand how to improve youth quality of life in the area? Yes, cities like Cleveland and the suburbs have lots going on and many priorities in these tough times, but ignoring youth issues and rejecting their culture is not effective problem-solving, it's sinking like a stone.

Here's what's going on in the world for young people

• Lindsey Lohan made a commentary on her twitter account yesterday about the US Dollar saying that it will be worthless if the Fed keeps printing money. It turns out Lindsey's tweet was out of character for a reason... she was paid to tweet it - though no one seems to know who paid her to tweet - maybe Ted Nugent... She later clarified that even though she was paid to tweet that she really does care about gas and food prices.
• FM friend Cryn Johannsen posts her response to Ted Nugent on Spark Action
  

  "When it comes to their take on abortion and other social issues, Tea Party folks generally have more conservative views. That does not tend to be true for Millennials, however. For example, a recent study suggests why Millennials do not identify with the values of the Tea Party:

  Overall, they have a more progressive view on politics.

  They are also quite diverse. That diversity lends itself to more progressive politics.

  Those Millennials who are white are even more progressive than their minority counterparts.

• Economic Outlook on young people who have mental health illness. "Recent research shows that people who experience a mental health illness in early adulthood could face a range of negative economic outcomes by the age of 30."
• Protests follow Walker to the Empire State; Bloombergville connects with Walkerville. Young Americans stepping up for cheeseheads everywhere!
• This blogger runs some numbers asking if America's Young people put Ron Paul in the White House As much as I wish this were true - that American youth could have that great an impact - American youth aren't registered to vote as Republicans as much as Democrats or Independents. I don't think the sheer volume numbers are there for Rep. Paul, but his youth outreach should never go unnoticed or ignored.
• Unless you were living under a rock yesterday, you heard about the meeting of the new think tank Google is running called Google Ideas. They brought together ex-extremists from various walks of life including Muslim extremists, Mexican gang members, Northern Ireland folks, etc... and talked about the impact on extremism in the world. Many of these folks got involved in extremist behavior when they were young and a blogger implores the world to Teach young people about other religions or risk extremism.
• Here is an interesting post. There's an upcoming training session in Hanoi to teach young people how to deal with climate change. People are obviously embracing that climate change exists across the world and are beginning to prepare young people for how to manage what's coming. Maybe the time for negotiating the science is over and our generation should just start preparing for the floods.
• We need to make sure young people know the true facts of higher education. And what do those true facts entail? Well it comes out of the UK but the reality is that college is expensive no matter where you go. This writer implores us (emphasis mine)
  

  "All too often in the recent past, politicians and others have given greater priority to attacking the government, rather than advancing the interests of young people and students. Politicians of all parties, student leaders, trade unionists and all others with a public platform and who are listened to on these issues must now make sure that they know the facts and do everything to make sure young people and their parents also understand the facts and are not misled."

• 6 young illegal immigrants arrested in Georgia protest rally for DREAM Act
• Is Jon Stewart tearing young people from newspapers? First of all... what's a newspaper? Kidding. If you saw Stephen Colbert's video where he picked up our Ted Nugent hit - then you've heard the joke before about it being funny that the Washington Examiner thinks Millennials even know what the Washington Examiner is... But when the Post asked what is getting youth away from papers one Twitter respondent honestly said
  "@demisdouble: 20somethings lost 10% of their ability to read."
  What a jackass....
• After the reports of the average age of farmers and ranchers growing older and older there has been a call resound[ing] for more young people in agriculture
• Good piece to compare and contrast. College tuition in America and Abroad. This actually also references a piece about 8 ways to cut costs when going to college. But here are the shockers from this piece
  1. The tuition in Finland is covered by the State through the Ministry of Education.
  2. Norway offers free tuition as well, but the cost of living there can add up quickly.
  3. If you have a working knowledge of German, then this country is a great and affordable option. Germany has offered free tuition for quite some time and in most cases still does.

  Lucky foreigners....

• The Company you Keep - yet another article on how job prospects are harmed by facebook photos. Interestingly I got questions from my mother after sharing religious beliefs on my facebook page which she said would probably hurt me in job searches. Which may be true - like it or not. The likelihood of me working for someone that would take issue with my ability to have thoughts on religion however ... not very likely. Maybe Bill Maher should give me a job and I can enlighten him about young people....
• Lawyers say unpaid internships exploit workers - which they do. And if you are offering unpaid internships make sure you're doing so legally. Interesting - in the UK they say that charities are the worst at exploiting unpaid interns. Though that doesn't surprise me. They seem to be the same here in the US. Everyone's trying to save a buck....

• Joan Walsh provides some interesting food for thought regarding the health of the Obama coalition as we move toward 2012. How might this coalition of disaffected Republicans, progressives, young voters, first time voters, labor, and African Americans and Latinos look this time around, and more importantly, will it be as powerful?
  

  "One big problem for Obama is that he assembled an unprecedented electoral coalition in 2008, but it wasn't a governing coalition. Progressives like to think of the themselves as the president's base, and it's partly true: Obama won thanks to an unrivaled turnout of young voters, first time voters, African Americans and Latinos; and an energetic labor effort. But they – we – weren't enough by ourselves. He also did well with independents and even some Republicans who were ashamed of what the Bush Cheney years did to their party. Predictably, a lot of those voters are going home now. I'm not sure they'll be entirely happy with what they'll find when they get there, or whether they'll discover the Tea Party ransacked the place. But they're uncomfortable with the way Obama used government to solve the banking crisis, stimulate the ailing economy and extend health insurance to more people. Of course, on the left he hasn't done enough on those fronts. When both sides are carping, the common wisdom goes, that means you must be doing something right. I'm not sure that's true when you're facing re-election."

• Rock the Vote President Heather Smith argues that state voting systems restrict young Americans, and demands improvement in The Hill. The youth movement can't talk about this enough!
• Colbert tackles the youth vote:

  "The GOP brand is about as popular with kids as an episode of "60 Minutes" hosted by a tube of Sensodyne."

  
  

  The Colbert Report
  Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

• Does Facebook exacerbate our society's obsession with "Keeping up with the Jones'?" This article suggests that yes, it does, and the consequences could lead to depression.
• Meanwhile, here is a report suggesting that for all the widgets, tools, and gadgets meant to connect young people to various initiatives online, they won't improve political participation in young people.
• It's nothing new, but it probably remains to be the largest story impacting youth today: unemployment.
• Just in case you didn't see it yesterday, an interesting video from Lee Camp calling on the Millennial Generation to get out of the metaphorical basement.
• 20 Questions with Paul Ryan, including, "Do you think the GOP could win back young voters?"
• KPAX out of Montana discusses the state's #4 ranking on the Rock the Vote Scorecard.

Some quick hits for you as we head into the weekend (or, perhaps, just the end).

• A Washington Post piece asks if college is worth it
• Ezra Klein flags a graphic showing the percentage of recent college grads with jobs, by major.
  

  

• Speaking of college, here are ten reasons to get pumped for life following graduation.
• Nebraska's 4H organization and the YMCA team up to offer youth entrepreneur classes. An interesting partnership and initiative.
• CBS writes up the story we covered yesterday regarding Rockefeller's belief that young people are morally hollow. (Apparently 13 more people like him on Facebook between yesterday and today.)
• New Hampshire is aging.
• The Pope knows what's up--at least regarding the wisdom of listening to young people.
• Two young candidates in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area won primaries this week.
• Young Canadian city council candidate links young people to the local community.
• UK developing youth "underclass"
• The government: Just say no to sexting.
• Young people afraid to call themselves feminists.
• When will the GOP realize they are on the wrong side of history?

Below is a list of a number of youth civic organizations/sites that have active pages on Facebook. If you know of other organizations that should be listed please let us know in the comments.

Future Majority
http://www.facebook.com/FutureMajoritydotcom

KevinBondelli.com
http://www.facebook.com/youthvote

Young Democrats of America
http://www.facebook.com/youngdems

College Democrats of America
http://www.facebook.com/collegedems

Rock the Vote
http://www.facebook.com/rockthevote

Roosevelt Institute
http://www.facebook.com/Roosevelt.CampusNetwork

New Leaders Council
http://www.facebook.com/NewLeadersCouncil

Bus Project
http://www.facebook.com/busproject

Trick or Vote
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trick-or-Vote/31765003218

United States Student Association
http://www.facebook.com/pages/United-States-Student-Association/180533252493

CHCI
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CHCI/67237623707

Gen44
http://www.facebook.com/Gen44

Energy Action Coalition
http://www.facebook.com/EnergyActionCoalition

League of Young Voters
http://www.facebook.com/pages/League-of-Young-Voters/6856101867

Voto Latino
http://www.facebook.com/votolatino

HeadCount
http://www.facebook.com/HeadCountOrg

Young Elected Officials Network
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Young-Elected-Officials-Network/122049416879

Campus Progress
http://www.facebook.com/campusprogress

99 Problems
http://www.facebook.com/99theLeague

Mobilize
http://www.facebook.com/mobilize.org

DNC Youth Council
http://www.facebook.com/DNCYouthCouncil

Originally posted at Citizen Orange.

The fate of almost a million lives could be decided in the next six hours.  As a voter, as a millenial, as a migrant, as a Guatemalan, I'm writing to say that I will be watching along with the vast majority of those who will determine the future of the United States of America. 

If you already haven't heard already, Harry Reid is going to offer the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act up as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.  The Senate is scheduled to vote on taking up the Act tomorrow at 2:15 p.m.  If you haven't called you're Senator yet in the support of the DREAM Act please do so now by calling:

It is imperative that you focus on these Senators.  If you've called already, call again.  If you've called again, ask five friends to do the same.  If you've done all that, here are some more actions you can take.

If you haven't heard about the DREAM Act yet I wouldn't be surprised.  The media has largely been focused on the train wreck that is Christine O'Donnell's campaign.  But the mainstream media is missing out on one of the most suspenseful political dramas I've ever witnessed.  No one knows if we have the votes to beat the filibuster in the Senate, today.  If we don't beat it, the National Defense Authorization Act will likely have to wait until after the elections.  At that point, all bets are off. 

One of the most compelling elements of this political drama has been the interaction between The LGBT movement and the migrant youth movement.  What to an outsider might be perceived as two unrelated constituencies, perhaps even hostile to each other, have been working long before this moment to build unity and solidarity.  It is one thing to believe in the truth that we are all woven into a "single garment of destiny."  It is another to live that truth and act on it.  The migrant youth movement and the LGBT movement having been living and acting on that truth, as we all should.  My freedom is tied up with the freedom of everyone else in the universe, and tomorrow we have a chance to set close to a million people free. 

Again, the media hasn't been watching but everyone who matters everyone who will decide the future of this country is watching.  The DREAM Act has been front-page news on major Spanish language newspapers all week, and featured heavily on Spanish language television.  The U.S.'s largest and fastest growing minority, Latinos, is watching, today.  Educators and students from around the country have organized for and come out in support of the DREAM Act.  The next generation is watching, today.  Facebook and twitter have blown up with mentions of the DREAM Act, and traffic on the sites covering the DREAM Act is through the roof.  Business leaders, religious leaders, and military leaders have all come out strong in support of the DREAM Act.  If the Senate fails to move the DREAM Act forward today, we will all be watching and we won't just remember this November, but for the rest of our lives. 

The next generation isn't just watching whether the DREAM act will move forward, but whether the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) will move forward.  Lady Gaga has galvanized youth for the repeal of DADT with her extensive twitter and facebook following in a way that probably hasn't been seen seen Barack Obama was elected.

According to a poll commissioned by First Focus, 70% of the U.S. public supports the DREAM Act.  Multiple polls show that a majority of the U.S. public supports the repeal of DADT.  Republicans, for the most part, are floating arguments about procedure.  They are saying that Democrats are playing politics with the National Defense Authorization Act.  Republicans are playing politics, too, and have used the procedure of the filibuster to grind the Senate to a halt for two years.  Playing politics is what politicians do.  The public doesn't care about politicians playing politics or what procedures are used as long as Congress does their job and gets things done.  It's time for Congress to get two things done that the majority of Americans support. 

Republicans, especially, face an important choice, today.  They can please their increasingly regional extremist base and relegate themselves to irrelevancy for a generation, or they can do the right thing and be competitive with the next generation of voters.

If we win, today, we will face an even steeper uphill battle, but we will all be watching.  Failure has not entered into my mind.  We will pass the DREAM Act and DADT will be repealed.  It is no longer a question of if, but a question of when.  The time is now and whomever stands in the way will regret it for a long time. 

With the new information out about Facebook allowing data and access to it's users for advertisers and the new and improved privacy settings, the recent Pew Survey about youth attitudes toward privacy couldn't be more timely.

"Some 71 percent of social networking users aged 18 to 29 have changed the privacy settings on their profile to limit what they share with others online"

This compares to just 55 percent of users who are 50 to 64. I'm sure there's a crack I could make here about it being because they just haven't signed on in six months...

Further

"44 percent of young adult Web users limit the amount of personal info available about themselves online."

I frequently hear reporters talk about the accessibility of information on individuals who are members of the Millennial Generation. Whether naughty photos on facebook or drunken tweets, the talking point has been that young people are free and open to exposure. I think these numbers show that while young people are open to accessibility to some extent, they have a larger amount of control over the information that they are giving than perhaps previously assumed.

After all - one doesn't have to fill out the entire facebook profile page, right?

"Contrary to the popular perception that younger users embrace a laissez-faire attitude about their online reputations, young adults are often more vigilant than older adults when it comes to managing their online identities," Madden wrote in her May 26 report."

I had a conversation with a guy at an event last week who wondered what election cycle we'd start to see photos from facebook and twitter from their college days or high school being used against them as they're running for office. More specifically when we would begin to see photos surface or "controversial" tweets that suddenly became part of the standard for opposition research and used in campaign commercials.

I think we've started seeing some of that with campaigns that try to go after staffers of candidates. We've see Obama staffer photos from facebook and incoming White House staffers back in 2008 were asked to provide their facebook links and answer questions about any embarrassing emails they might have sent.

I think this is probably up to begin in the next 5-10 years but it might be 15 before we see it at the Presidential level. But my spin to the guy I was talking to was that our generation is accustom to the concept of accessibility to information about ourselves and the increased lack of privacy. As the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers begin to die off and Millennials take the lead in the electorate, I predict we'll see a rejection of this kind of information to be a valid form of attack against a candidate.

With such a huge majority of young people on social networking sites there is surly a deeper level of understanding and solidarity with tagged photos and profanity in tweets among Millennials. I can't imagine that in the Millennial Congress politicians will be able to get very far using this for attacks. There will probably be a period of transition where shocking things will surface and older generations will naturally be aghast and horrified - but realistically they weren't voting for a progressive candidate anyway.

What is interesting is the level of privacy control that youth seem to have over their own data. Meaning - as long as they are the ones posting the embarrassing photo it's fine, but Facebook better not allow advertisers to find my demographic info for the purposes of market research and targeting. For that - 71% alter their settings on the site. As long as there is a possibility of control, users all seem to be cool on the facebook front.

With these new settings and concerns I found this fancy Top 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know guide. I will make a plea, however, please, don't think your facebook and twitter pages disqualify you for seeking higher office. We need more young candidates, not less.

Yesterday students from across the state of New Jersey walked out of their classes and descended upon Newark to protest Republican Gov. Chris Christie's education budget cuts.

The walkout and protest grew organically from the online efforts of Michelle Ryan Lauto, a Pace University freshman who attended high school in New Jersey, who used Facebook to propose the action. Students then used these same online tools to organize their own individual schools and collaborate on strategy:

They also used Facebook to trade advice on contacting newspapers and television stations to publicize their rallies, while Lauto logged on to urge students to keep their protests peaceful.

(...)

In Newark, students also turned to Twitter and text messaging to coordinate a walkout of thousands of students at schools across the state’s largest city.

The incredible organizing effort impressed some school board members:

Newly minted school board member Shavar Jeffries was on hand to support the students' protest.

"I'm very proud of our kids for protesting in a peaceful, disciplined way," he said adding that while the students were enthusiastic they maintained order. "They're organized, they're disciplined, they're beautiful."

(...)

School board member Nakia White also expressed her admiration.

"I think the social activism among our youth is incredible," White said. "They're absolutely defying the myth of apathy and not caring, and they're standing up for what they believe in. They believe in education."

Throughout the country Millennials have been self-organizing using online and mobile tools, from the student protests in California, the immigration protests in Arizona, and yesterday in New Jersey. As Republican policies hit young Americans harder the efforts will only increase. This level of engagement is a positive sign for the Democratic Party, both because of the energy and organizing as well as the further inclination toward the Democrats in reaction to these Republican policies. Young voter enthusiasm may not be the problem for Democrats that some say it is.

The Republic National Committee has added a new tool to its arsenal in the high-stakes battle for the lifetime allegiance of Millennial voters. FarmVille, a popular Facebook application game with over 80 million monthly users, allows players to "grow delicious fruits and vegetables and raise adorable animals on your very own farm!"

The RNC is hoping to capitalize on the "neighbors" component of the game. Neighbors, who are friends and contacts who connect with each other through the game, allow players to level up faster and accumulate more plants, animals, and decorations for their farm. The idea is to turn their FarmVille neighbors into fans of the RNC Facebook page as a foot-in-the-door to more meaningful outreach and participation.

The official RNC Farmville account will be managed by staffers within the organization's new media department. A video explaining the new program has been posted to YouTube.

Come on Democrats, you let the RNC beat you to FarmVille. You have to at least try for Mafia Wars.

Earlier today President Obama answered questions submitted through CitizenTube via the White House Live Facebook application.

I had hoped to have the video from the question and answer session to embed here, and have been waiting for it since CitizenTube hours ago claimed that it would be available shortly, but unfortunately it is not yet posted. (I'll add it once it is, whenever that may be).

I was pleased for the most part with the question selection, which included questions about Sudan (an area many Millennials are interested in), net neutrality, college affordability, and one from the Energy Action Coalition about clean energy and the environment.

As for the execution of the session, the video quality was a little choppy and would occasionally stop, requiring a refresh, but the chat/status posting discussion was a nice touch.

On the whole I think the session was a great move and fits in with my belief in taking your message to the places where people live and hang out (even virtually), and Facebook is certainly one of those places.

What are your thoughts about the President's Q&A over Facebook? What would you like to see next time?