Two words my reaction to the video above: shock and hopefulness.

This summer, middle school students from the Porterville Unified School District are learning about journalism at my high school, Granite Hills. And when I say “journalism” I don’t mean it in the traditional sense. They’re learning digital journalism with a cirriculum I have yet to see on a college level:

• Reporting: Interviewing, writing leads, taking notes, editing
• Multimedia: Video production (using Final Cut Pro!), audio editing, photo editing
• Beyond basics: Photoshop, Illustrator, 3D graphics, animated graphics, HTML
• Understanding news: reading the New York Times to understand news article structure and get a grasp for world events

All the mini-sessions are being taught by fresh high school graduates — the very kids who were little high school freshmen when I was editor in chief (including my little brother, the one teaching the HTML session).

My initial reaction was to compare skills being learned by these 12-year-olds to those skills of college reporters I work with. The 12-year-olds win. The video above, although not perfect, is more well-produced than what most Mustang Daily reporters achieve by the end of a quarter on staff. And the fact that recent high school grads can teach skills that colleges are struggling to teach only further mesmerizes me.

And think about it– these are just kids! Listen to the voice of the young girl who narrates the video. She sounds like she should be narrating Sesame Street. She still has six years until she graduates high school, ten years until she graduates college. If kids are learning these skills right now, imagine what they’ll be able to do with it by the time they get to the professional industry.

Back when I went there (2003-2007), I helped get the program on its feet, and I’m so proud to see where it’s come since then.

As I tweeted earlier, I am absolutely blown away. And, also, a little terrified. At this rate, these kids will put me out of a job.

Students at the 2009 Associated Collegiate Press Conference in San Diego, Calif. discuss ideas on modernizing journalism education in the 21st century.

Twitter is about the conversation. It’s about connections. It’s about transparency.

So a question for you: In any other public conversation, would you make your peers and professionals sign a request form before you let them hear what you have to say?

Hopefully you’re not saying anything on Twitter that will get you in trouble. By now you should be in the habit of knowing that if it’s on the Web, it can get out– private or not.

Protecting your updates goes against everything Twitter is all about.

Conversation
One of the most valuable aspects of Twitter is being hyper-connected to a huge group of people all the time. There is so much to be learned from partaking in discussions with students, educators and professionals in your industry, but if you protect your updates, the conversation is one-way. It implies “I want to see what you say, but you have to be worthy of seeing what I have to say.”

In the Twitterverse, we’re all equals — whether you’re Ashton Kutcher, Lance Armstrong or just some dude from a small town. Protecting your updates impedes that equality and creates an almost hierarchical feel to Twitter.

Connections
As what I consistently refer to as the most powerful text-based medium on the Web, Twitter gives people who otherwise would never know each other the chance to develop lasting relationships– on a both personal and professional level. All Twitterers have their own niche, whether it be industry-related or hobby-specific or even geographically bound. Twitter unites people.

If you’re on Twitter to make connections, the likelihood of someone following you back is low if your updates are blocked.

People follow you based on your recent tweets, the way you tweet, the links you post, the insight you share and your contributions to the worldwide conversation. You’re depriving potential followers all of those things when you force them to follow you before they know what you’re all about. Is that fair?

Transparency
For student journalists, it’s an especially risky business to have private tweets. With the rise of social media, our industry is increasingly about putting a person behind the words. It’s about transparency.

Reporters who protect their updates make it seem as though they have something to hide. Do you have something to hide? Are you going to choose who gets to see what you tweet and who doesn’t? If you reject someone, you’re excluding them from your conversation and trashing your personal identity and transparency.

Be smart
I know many people protect their updates for privacy and safety. But there are better ways to attain both of those things. Twitter is not a place for privacy. Twitter is wide open for everyone. If you’re worried someone will stalk you if they know you’re at the market or know more about you than they ought to, then maybe you should rethink the way you Twitter.

Is the social network really a way to broadcast where you are and what you’re doing at all times? No. It’s a tool to build your identity and expand your mind. Be a smart Twitterer. And if someone truly does creep you out, the “block” option is there for a reason.

We hear it over and over again: Nothing is truly “private” on the Web. But with the ability to set our profiles to “private,” we still tend to feel invincible and post photos/wall posts we’d never want employers to see. 

With the continually-changing interconnectedness of the Web, social networks continue to let down their walls, and that sense of “privacy” starts to diminish.

So my New Years resolution proposal to you, from one student to another: make your Facebook page more professional. And after you’ve done that, make more industry connections in whatever your field is.

• If you’re active on Twitter and LinkedIn, your professional and social networks will begin to mesh
• Be ready for the day when those lines begin to blur so you don’t have to clean up after yourself
• Untag photos that may get you in trouble
• Delete wall posts from nagging/gossipy friends with profanity etc.

When Myspace and Facebook were new to the Internet, they were competitive (and certainly still are today). But more and more, networks are finding ways to work together instead of against each other.

Examples:

Twitter application for Facebook

Plugging Flickr, YouTube, Yelp, Last.fm, Hulu and more to your Facebook page

Embedding your blog, Slideshare onto LinkedIn

Traditionally, social networks have been organized as follows:

• Facebook = personal, social
• Myspace = personal, social
• LinkedIn = professional
• Twitter = a mix of both

But those distinct lines are now blurring. When a professional LinkedIn connection added me as a friend on Facebook,  I was momentarily baffled about what to do. Decline the friend and risk losing a connection? That would make it as though I have something to hide.

It became obvious that eventually, it would come to the point where I have to push aside privacy concerns and start opening my Facebook up to the rest of the world. As recruiters turn to social media, I can’t risk being anything less than professional. 

Now I’m starting to mesh my networks: my Twitter status is linked to my Facebook status — something I’d resisted for a long time because I didn’t think any of my personal, real-life friends would care about the same things as my Twitter followers.

As my Facebook expands beyond college and high school friends to include family (yes, the older generation is catching on), professionals and industry connections, Facebook is no longer about being social, but about maintaining and online identity and a personal brand.