We’re in the midst of the user-generated revolution. Content generated by users is skyrocketing in popularity. Which means anyone who can generate that content has much to gain. There’s always the random blog entry or video clip from folks like me who have full time jobs. But then there are the people with the most to contribute and the most to potentially gain from this focus on user-generated content.

I’m talking, of course, about teens. Who else has the free time to create loads of user-generated content and the patience to wait for their payday? It could be articles, blog entries, photos, videos, podcasts, even links. The Wall Street Journal just explored some of the users behind user-submitted link sites, like Digg, and found that one of the top submitters to Reddit is 12 years old. Netscape even pays a 17-year-old $1,000 a month to find links.

A teenager with some imagination, time and responsibility could really accomplish something in today’s online world. What exactly could they accomplish? Whatever they want. Start their own business? Easily. Build a portfolio for a future job? No problem. Earn enough money to avoid working at the Double Meat Palace? Without a doubt. I earn several hundred dollars per year on my site just from the ads. Imagine if I put effort into earning money that way (that’s practically a call for Monkey Outta Nowhere interns).

When I was a teen the web was just starting to come into its own. We had no idea what it was. But I was already creating enough to content to fill a blog. I can’t imagine the videos my friends and I would have created if we had an outlet like YouTube and an audience like the world. It’s actually kind of scary to think about that, which is also a good warning to go along with the plentiful opportunity. While the web gives teens (and anyone really, they just seem like good examples with all that idealism and free time) a platform, they can also use that platform to hang themselves. Remember that whatever cool thing you unleash online will be there forever–your friends will see it, your enemies will see it, your future employer will see it and your grandmother will see it. So be smart.

You need an audience in order to change the world, and now an audience is just a click away.