Thread by @alexisohanian

I gave the commencement address at my alma mater @UVA this year. You can watch the whole thing on my YouTube channel (spoiler: @Olympiaohanian cameo at the end) or just read this thread for takeaways 👇

1/ People & experiences are the ones who matter.

Graduation day isn’t for you. It’s for all the people who helped get you here - take some time to celebrate them, because you don’t know when it’ll be your last chance.

2/ I wish I could’ve been in C-Ville for this bc it's an impt community for me (where I decided to become an entrepreneur, named Reddit, created Snoo, etc). Everything I’ve done as an entrepreneur, investor + (business) dad is threaded w principle of bringing people together.

3/ No one knew this, but all the hundreds of doodles I did in the Reddit logo that became famous within our community was all bc I was creating something fun for my dying mother to look forward to every morning (and something fun for us to talk about on our calls).

4/ Working in the business of tech + investing, it's not about predicting the future, it's about learning quickly from the past and present in order to see where things are trending. It’s all about connecting the dots between people and experiences.

5/ There have been TWO major cultural shifts in Western civilization and BOTH have followed global pandemics. Bubonic Plague ➡️ Renaissance + Spanish Flu ➡️ Roaring 20s. Let’s learn from both of these shifts, bc there will be THIRD after #COVID19 h/t @Dlisscious

6/ Today we enter into a cultural shift that is clouded with uncertainty. We have to do better and thankfully, we have the resources and community to do so. Software + the internet are the connective tissue.

7/ Coming together to build strong connections, both online and virtual, allow us to learn + growth together. I would even argue that we have stronger communities online bc people are able to be their truest self.

8/ Stronger community bonds also mean more tribalism. It's going to require us going against our biological instincts in order to find ways to connect & empathize across lines.

9/ Everything that exists as society right now was invented by another flawed human, just like you, just like me, so don't be satisfied with just complaining about something, start building better.

10/ Be someone who has a reputation for creating things, not destroying them. We need more builders now than ever, because we have a lot of work to do.

11/ To @UVA and the graduating class of 2021: thank you.

This cultural reset will be defined by community. Let’s start building a future that our children and future generations will thank us for.