Generations

So a friend of mine has a blog post about generations. He gave the "traditional" generations list (one I, as a member of generation X, disagree with...there are way too many differences between someone born in 61 and someone born in 81!)

Lost Generation (1883–1900)
Greatest Generation (1901–1924)
Silent Generation (1925–1942)
Baby Boomer (1943–1960)
Generation X (1961–1981)
Millennial Generation (1982–2001)
Generation Z (2001–)

He went on to describe a new listing by another author for an iGeneration or internet generation. This generation is now 18-30, and can't remember a world without the internet.

Bob disagrees saying that the internet didn't take off until '98. As an ex-wife of an internet junkie who was hooked in '91, I'd tend to disagree. Granted, the internet looked much different then. It wasn't as slick looking, didn't have pictures, and tended to be more of a college project than something everyone was doing, but still it was there.

My sister would be at the early end of this generation. (she was born in '78 and is 31) and honestly, I know we've had the talk about this...she can't remember a time without internet. To her the beginings were college sponsored "chat rooms" and lists of articles written by professors, but it was there from the time she was aware of it. She can remember teachers in jr high (ok, ok...middle school--she was the first class who left elementary school in 5th grade in our hometown) discussing if access to this new thing should be allowed in her school. (I was in high school at the time, and we had access, but it was so limited at the time, I couldn't see the big deal.)

So yes, I'd agree with the iGen label. But honestly...I think we'll start seeing smaller and smaller generations, as the tech keeps increasing and the world keeps shrinking.

For example, the traditional model labels GenX as those born '61 to '81. I'm firmly in the middle of that ('71)! But the differences in attitute, thought process, between me and those ten years older or ten years younger!

Women 10 years older ('61 birth year) that I have met, interacted with, been mentored by....have a much more work focused attitude. They were the generation of women that went to work. Yes, they had families, but most went back to work after. They are very often career driven. Those 10 years younger (mostly raised by career women!) have a much more family oriented focus. Many are staying home with their kids, or looking for in home, personal care providers among family and friends as opposed to the Kindercare generation they belong to.

Those born in the middle of this 20 year span kind of fall in the middle. I think that is part of the problem historians are finding with everything after the baby boomers. Life started changing soooo fast. Generations (I think) now last closer to 7-10 years instead of 17-25. I often feel I have more in common with those 10-15 years older than myself than those 5 years younger. And those 10-15 years younger....I don't often get at all.

And I've had talks about this with those in the 5 year younger than me age range...They feel it far worse than I do. They don't really feel much in common with those 5-10 years older or 5-10 years younger.

About 15 years ago now, I stumbled on a list of things that that years high school gradution class didn't remember. As my sister was just finishing her first year of college, I asked her about some of the things on the list. It amazed me that I could remember these things (some very, very big things!) that she had no personal feelings about. Our birth years are only 7 years apart after all. (6 1/2 if you're counting months, as I was a fall baby and she was born in winter!)

They included:

The USSR (both as a nation and as the "Evil Empire" of the Regan era)
Ronald Reagan (as a current, sitting President)
Having only 4-6 channals on T.V. ( I grew up in Chicago without cable--ABC, NBC, CBS, WGN, PBS and sometime in my youth...Fox arrived)
Your family owning at least one black and white TV.
Fear of nuclear war
Mr. Hooper on Seasame Street
Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo
Not owning or using a computer regularly

So yeah...I think she is part of the iGen....and I...am not.