Many millennials, like me, live out their lives online and this is

problematic. A generation who does not understand people with different

backgrounds or beliefs to them are unlikely to make a generation of great
leaders. A generation who does not understand the world around them are
less able to persuade it, affect it, appreciate it or even sell to it.
But I don’t think this is an ‘awareness’ problem.
Smart millennials, at least, are well aware that Facebook and Google’s
algorithms can work against us. Many of us know this in great detail—we
could even recite the computer code for you! If the problem did lie in
awareness, it would be easy to solve. We could simply tip the scales by
following people we wouldn’t normally follow; by ‘liking’ things we
don’t really like. It wouldn’t be long before our news feeds became more
balanced and our online reference-points became more pluralistic.
This is a nice idea… but it doesn’t work. I know because I tried. I
sought out the dissenting opinions, I followed the other sides, but I
struggled to keep engaged. I struggled to maintain any sort of meaningful
dialogue. Inevitably, my feeds reverted back to blissful consensus.
I think the real problem is trust. It’s easy to find contrary opinions
online; it’s hard to trust them. How can I verify the author’s sincerity?
How do I know they are not motivated by greed or hate? How do I know
that they are not just some 12-year old troll sitting in a basement? These
doubts niggle and so we recede back to our own spaces, not just because
we find the opinions more agreeable but because we trust them. We know
where they are coming from. We understand their reasoning.
Even in such impossible circumstances, I’m optimistic about this
generation’s ability to find a way. I think the idea of networks and
networking is beginning to take on a new meaning for many millennials.
For certain generations, ‘networking’ conjures plastic name badges, dry
conference rooms and painful small talk over cheap wine. But the
brightest millennials are often also the ones who are seeking out
opportunities to meet new people and build up diverse networks. Online
platforms support this but it starts in the real world. It’s no surprise that
the idea of the ‘turbulent network’ is gaining in popularity—that you can
build productive relationships with people who will take different stances
on nearly any issue but, crucially, people whose sincerity you can trust.

Increasingly, this is also the generation that travels. And not just
island-hopping in South East Asia. More people than ever are travelling to
work and to study—in the process building turbulent networks with other
people from completely different cultures. It’s estimated that by 2020,
over eight million students will travel to study; double what it was just
seven years before (UNESCO).
I think my generation needs to not just be the ‘online generation’ but
also the ‘networking generation’. It shouldn’t be assumed that just
because we are more connected, we are also more cohesive. Employers
should give graduates the chance to work in new places (culturally, as
well as geographically) and support their ability to work with new people
when they do. Universities too should not assume that just because 10,000
students occupy a campus together, or that a student studies abroad, they
will build relationships with people who are different to them. Some
students need a structured way to do this—a neutral space to explore their
differences and build trust.
The challenge for my generation is not an easy one. Group-think and
insularity have been hard-coded into our everyday lives via a vast online
echo chamber. But I also think that this generation, more than any other,
genuinely has the means and the appetite to escape it.