Just 25 years old, Alex Steed considers himself an old activist – that is, compared to other “millennial activists” who range in age from 15 to their late 20s.

But what sets Steed and other millennial activists apart isn’t so much age – it’s how they participate in activism. Steed says that millennial activists are defined by a sense of “digital fluency” and leverage most of their social and political power using the Internet.

“The same way that for many people activism means a particular set of things, like picket signs or making phone calls at a phone bank, to the millennial, I think one of the top three techniques will always include the connectivity provided by the Internet,” Steed said.

Indeed, Steed himself is a self-proclaimed millennial activist, relying on the Internet for much of his social organizing. But he’s fascinated by the way people only a few years younger than he is are harnessing the Internet to create change in increasingly creative and effective ways.

And he wants to learn more. In October, he’s launching a tour of the United States called “Millennials Changing America: The Next Generation of Organizing.” He plans to visit 30 cities in two months to “listen to, record, and share [the] stories” of American youth who are socially and politically engaged online.

Among other questions, Steed wants to find out why youth are engaged. “I want to know, where is information coming from? How much information comes from Facebook? What are best practices? What works in Idaho that doesn’t work in San Francisco?”

When Steed was first becoming politically active online, he said he could talk about issues on message boards. Now, he says politics has become more participatory because of the Internet, allowing young people to connect and organize with online tools, from using social networks to blogs to posting videos.

Steed hopes his project will be able to highlight youth action that crosses the political spectrum. “I’d really like to bridge the dialogue because I think what unifies all of us is our medium, not necessarily what candidate we align ourselves with.”

And while Steed is not specifically stumping for Net Neutrality and digital inclusion along his tour, the profiles of young people he creates should further help the cause of an open, neutral, affordable and ubiquitous Internet.

“If I go across the country and profile 35 to 70 people, there’s going to be all these case studies as to why it would be dumb to restrict Internet usage.” He continued, “These stories will… show what’s possible for a kid with endless access in San Francisco versus a kid with little access in the middle of the country – or even in San Francisco in a different neighborhood.”