Well, it's the title of a new blog by Mark Smith, a lawyer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. His introductory post explains the title.
I have to disclose that Mark is my cousin. We grew up together in Joburg and I've always appreciated his sharp wit and sarcastic sense of humor. Recently, we've been talking about blogging and when he mentioned starting his own blog, I jumped at the opportunity to encourage this pursuit. I knew his tone and writing style would go over well in the blogosphere and if you check it out, you'll see why he's already making a splash.
I really enjoyed Mark's second post about being on the cusp of Generation X and Generation Y. Although I strongly identify as a member of Gen. Y, I've been thinking a lot about how some people don't buy the generational analysis and why they don't think it's relevant. Mark's post speaks to some of these issues, so I've pasted it below.
Straddling the Generations
By Mark Smith
Being 27 (almost 28! Oh the silent screams in my head!), I was born in 1980, something of a "nothing year" in the history of the universe. No new genocide/war (just that cold one that was dragging on), no startling scientific discoveries (with the OBVIOUS exception of BIG HAIR).
According to popular sources, the year, for present purposes, is only significant inasmuch as it is listed as the end and start points respectively for Genrations X and Y. This overlap leaves me in a bit of an uncomfortable pickle as to where I slot into the social generational spectrum. Had they just started the Gen Y spectrum in 1981, my hyperactive, obsessive mind would not now be mulling this over. But alas, they DID NOT.
So, here I am, pontificating on which generation I am part of. To be honest, Gen X gets a bit of a bad rap, and is lately characterised as the ill-adjusted middle child of the last century, playing by the rules of the baby boomers, but doing it less well. And yet, the signs point worryingly to me being part of this forgotten generation.
Some tidbits:
a) I hate Facebook with the fire of a thousand suns (MUCH more on this to come);
b) I have never visited MySpace, but have heard it is the Facebook of the bad kids;
c) I do not take photos with my cellphone, and the battery of my 5 year old digital camera (a peer-pressure purchase if ever there was one) has somehow melted from disuse, having last been used in early 2004;
d) I had never blogged or designed a website until right now. Part of the reason for starting this blog was that this test, based on media usage, placed me in THE MIDDLE of Gen X, not the edge, where I might (not should) have been given my 1980 birth, THE MIDDLE! By parity of reasoning (aka my calculator), this equates my worldview with that of 36 year old!
This test, on the other hand, takes a much more "hug the trees" approach to determining your generational coordinates. The questions seem kinda vague to me (but then my generational age is 36, so perhaps I just "can't relate") and don't really highlight the stark differences between the generations, as I see them.
Not too sure what conclusion to draw here. But being an inherently practical person, I must look forward, so can anyone out there tell me how to download illegal music, send photos from my cellphone to my other prematurely old-fashioned friends, write HTML code, or hack into the CIA's database? Or is hacking so very '96? Anyone?
Image from Flickr.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
What is an Arselickocracy?
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6 comments:
Hey Jacci(I have decided to drop my ironic use of "Jaclyn", seeing that the only two people in the world that will get it are you and I).
Thanks for the marketing boost! You have GREAT taste in blogs (if I say so myself)! I really appreciate it.
Having reread the post, I think it speaks to a more serious issue in my case. Perhaps the reason I am hesitant to identify with generational classification is that all signs point to me being a Gen Xer....clearly not the right generation to be part of in the current climate.
I think it's amazing what a difference 3 years (in our case EXACTLY 3 years) can make...but then I suppose you might have a completely, slightly more Gen X-leaning view than somebody born 3 years after you? Or am I just trying to console myself here?
My personal view is that it's a little too soon to be juxtaposing Gen X and Millenials/Gen Y... Considering the fact that many of the Gen Y set are still in Highschool, Middle School even Elementary School!!! Who knows what they'll be like once they "grow up." How many people are exactly the same (commitment, maturity, life-expectations) as they were in highschool?
I'm 25, so I can relate a bit to your resistance of being identified as one or the other.
Mark, you bring up an interesting thought... maybe our generational identities are like a spectrum, so you're closer to the Gen. X end than I am, but we're both not as close to the Gen. Y end as someone who might be younger than I am.
But jray's comment illustrates another good point that generational identity doesn't entirely correlate to one's age. Jray is a year older than me but resists identifying with Gen. X/Y while I'm happy to think of myself as a millennial.
Jray, I don't think it's early compare Gen. X and Gen. Y. In fact, I'm surprized you don't see yourself as a Gen. Y because according to a lot of the analysis out there, you'd comfortably fit well within the bounds of Gen. Y based on your age.
As you note, I think a large majority of this generation is still changing, so our identity is most definitely evolving, but I think the current ideas about who we are as a generation is still very relevant.
Jaclyn, perhaps we will see some information from you on to what extent (if at all) members of Gen Y are more comfortable being identified with titles like "Gen Y" or "Millennial" than are older folks with being called "Baby Boomers" or the like.
My older brother (28 soon) and I have the same dynamic as you and Mark, it's pretty hilarious.
He has a blog as well, but takes it as a research opportunity (In The Green in my blogroll), and doesn't participate at all in the type of blogging I do. He's very academic and literal, which perhaps divides us more so than any sort of Generational gap. We're both more X than Y, for sure, but we're also so very changed by the non-North American culture we were raised in.
Growing up in the Philippines and Bangladesh kind of keeps you in the 70's and 80's (especially actually being raised in the 80's), but we were obviously able to break out quickly and, probably like you two, see world issues with a keener eye - which throws us into the More-Y category.
Thanks for stopping by Torbjorn. The whole growing up outside the U.S. / North America certainly affects my perspective in a huge way... one day I'm going to write a longer reflection on that.
I'm not sure that I agree that being more worldly is characteristic of Gen. Y necessarily. I think in the information age, people who are interested in global issues have easy access to information. But because info. is so decentralized, people who aren't interested in that stuff are exposed to it way less often than older folks have been.
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