It is difficult enough to describe who millennials are, what they do, and how they think, and now to put them side by side with who marketers call the Generation Z, it would be a near impossible task to differentiate between the two.
Putting individuals in a box and giving them a label is something many in my age group tend to be wary of, especially when the title given is one created by those who want to push their products and get our money.
But is their a stark contrast in the society that the millennials grew up in from that of the Gen Zs?
As much as we want to define the identity of the Zs, another important question needs to be asked first, has there been a major historical shift that would shape the core values of that generation differently from those who precede them?
In the end though, we cannot deny the inevitability of the rising of Gen Z. But only when they have fully matured can we begin to decipher the values and attitudes that drive them.
(Image credit: Julian Gentilezza/Unsplash)
But I also feel like we were born at a curious time when the world was only beginning to transition into a more tech-savvy society. Our identity isn't as rigid as how marketers try to define it.
I still remember the time when the internet wasn't as accessible and content wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today. I was born in the late 90s and my early childhood was still filled with going out on the streets or to playgrounds for entertainment.
We still watched a lot of TV, mostly cartoons, and renting DVDs was a thing. Then at some point in the mid-2000s, the internet just exploded. With the introduction of smartphones and tablets, things took off in a whole different direction.
So I think my experiences maybe different from the OG millennials but they're not completely resonant with these Gen Zs either. We can try to deconstruct our collective experiences as a generation as the article suggests in order to understand how the cultural shifts in different social contexts changed the way we see the world. But that would be a herculean task to undertake.
Left to Their Own Devices