I know there is a temptation to ignore these kinds of comparisons, but indulge me for a second.  I was listening to a recent episode of the Media Hacks Podcast and Chris Brogan made a comment comparing The Roger Smith Hotel of today to the Chelsea Hotel of the 1950s.  The comparison is amazingly apt as both hotels not only embraced the shifts of their time, but became a central hub for the communities that were born in their halls (or more likely lobby bars).

Chris’ comment got me thinking, the similarities between the Tweet Generation and the Beat Generation are uncanny…

• They both focused on creating remarkable content and spreading it in unique ways.  It wasn’t only about making a living, it was about contributing to a movement and a community.
• They both offered up iconic thought leaders… Chris Brogan as Jack Kerouac, Julien Smith as Neal Cassady, Christopher Penn as Allen Ginsberg, I will spare naming anyone as William Burroughs (but feel free to make suggestions in the comments section).
• They both changed the way we communicate.  Be it writing prose on a fairly endless roll of paper or Tweeting 140 characters at time, these movements figured out new ways to express themselves.
• They both had their hubs, yesterday’s Coffee Houses are today’s Cyber Cafes.  Today’s Tweet-ups and Unconferences mimic the jazz and poetry filled evenings of the Beats.  Face-to-Face is and was an essential part of both movements.
• They both brought talented and creative thinkers together to create a community and change that was much bigger than any of the individuals.  How many poets were born of “Howl”?  How many bloggers just finished their first post?
• They both were fueled by powerful and brilliant women who often do not get nearly the credit and attention they deserve.  The Amber Naslund’s and Valeria Maltoni’s of the Tweet Generation echo the Anne Waldman’s and Diane DiPrima’s of The Beats.
• They both included each other in their works and encouraged each others careers and success.  One of Jack Kerouac’s desires was to rewrite all of his works of “fiction” with the real names of his friends, we see this all the time in the generous linking from the posts of one members the Tweet Generation to another.

The other similarity that I cannot help but notice is the way that they were outwardly disregarded and mocked at their beginnings.  Not that difficult to imagine the black turtle neck, beret and bongos, is it?  As for The Tweet Generation, this College Humor video pretty much sums it up…