Wednesdays with Will: Generation Y, The New Lost Generation or the Most Overexposed?
The Lost Generation
The term “Lost Generation” refers to the generation that came of age during World War I. Hemingway characterizes this generation as a completely hedonistic era of people who deem their own pleasures to be of the most important and setting out to progress at their own pace. Though many similarities exist between the so called “Lost Generation” and today’s Millennials (the lack of prospects due to a heavy recession, the shift in values from previous generations, and even to a degree- enjoyment plays an above average part in decision making) some fail to understand how these new times have truly changed everyone’s perspective.
According to a 2011 Ipsos survey, Millennials spend more than 40hrs a week online. This single stat alone provides information that the connectivity of Gen Y is absolutely overwhelming. Forty hours of sifting through articles, photos, musical libraries, polls, news sources, etc. which ultimately will result in opinions on every topic under the sun. This outspokenness has created a firestorm in the eye of older generations because, for the most part, they did not grow up with such a colossal amount of knowledge at their fingertips—they did not form the sheer number of opinions on such a variety of topics in their early years as Gen Y has done.
Generation Y
The idea that knowledge is power has completely inflated the mind set of Gen Y. Combined with the “participation award” temperament Gen Y’s parents implemented and a shaky economy, this generation of young adults has developed a sense of entitlement. Millennials have the idea that “if my friend secured an awesome job, good salary, and enjoys what they are doing then I should have that as well because that same friend is posting pictures and statuses of how happy they are.”
Gen Y lives in a TMZ culture where someone is always watching, reviewing, and posting. The highs are texted to all the friends and the lows are tweeted to the world. Relationships are determined by a simple swipe right or left (Tinder) and are ended as simply as changing a status on Facebook. The ultimate answer when describing Gen Y is that we might have the highest ceiling on our potential but we are also the generation that has completely lost the understanding of what it means to keep it to yourself.
Cover Photo Source: stickerHelsinki via fotopedia
Photo 1 Source: e r j k p r u n c z y k via Flickr
Photo 2 Source: Karen via Flickr
Just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed your post. I appreciate your willingness to look at your generation, their overinflated estimation of their worth, and their entitled attitude with candor.
A bit of humility, as you have said on occasion, is a good thing, as is a bit more respect for what it took for those who have gone before to be successful. An opinion based on a plethora of easily accessed information is one thing. An ideal or perspective forged by experience and investigation is something else entirely.
Kudos to you and yours of Gen Y who don’t just believe their own PR, but who seek to be a deeper more enriched group of people as a result of all that is available, instead of being “lost” in the shallowness of top line copy and texts.