Audge

Before I start with the post, let me explain a few things.

I've finally gotten around to cleaning and updating my entire blog, and if you'll notice, it's a little different. At the top, each page has been updated and most of them, completely changed. The TED page is new, and if you click on it, it will lead you straight to my TED profile with all my favorite talks and speakers in which you can explore. I highly recommend any and all the talks that I recommended, go figure.

Glad that's out of the way. Now on to the real stuff.

While in college, a term came to my attention that I had never heard before: Millennial.

The word itself is strange, but the stranger thing was that come to find out, the world labeled me as a millennial. How I had not heard this term before baffled me, but......c'est la vie I guess.

Anyways, so let me give you the background first.

Definition: The term Millennials generally refers to the generation of people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. Perhaps the most commonly used birth range for this group is 1982-2000. The Millennial Generation is also known as Generation Y, because it comes after Generation X — those people between the early 1960s and the 1980s. It has also been called the Peter Pan or Boomerang Generation because of the propensity of some to move back in with their parents, perhaps due to economic constraints, and a growing tendency to delay some of the typical adulthood rites of passage like marriage or starting a career.

The Millennial Generation has been studied and researched extensively in recent years, due to the extremely different culture this generation seems to be experiencing then generations before. 

So I'll make this easy. Let's break this into 2 sections. 

What THEY Say: 

Coined by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe (Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation), the term millennials isn't the only one given to my generation. Researcher Jean Twenge wrote Generation Me  in 2006, claiming the significant "me" characteristic this generation seems to have as well as the underlying sense of entitlement and narcissism (what a nice lady).  

To be honest, there's THOUSANDS of things written about millennials. It's like the world can't stop talking about us. And not necessarily because of how much they like us. So I did some research and some comparisons and here are some traits of millennials that I think sums up what everyone else thinks pretty well I think.

Traits:

• Multi-taskers: "Millennials are multitasking pros and can juggle many responsibilities at once. This also means that we are easily distracted and find social media and texting hard to resist."
• Connected: "Millennials know everything there is to know about social media because we are living it. We are constantly perusing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.  - it’s how we share and get information."
• Tech-Savvy: "There’s no doubt that the majority of Millennials are more tech-savvy than other generations, although Generation Z may soon surpass us."
• Self-Concerned: According to many studies and researchers, this generation craves attention and constant reassurance in themselves. They want personal advice. They want people to like their status'. They want more "me" time. They want flexible schedules. This trait tends to be one in discussion a lot because though this trait may seem evident, there's also evidence that millennials are very aware of the world around them and are invested and want to be invested in helping making things better and serving the community. 
• Instant Gratification: "Millennials need to feel like what they are doing is important and that they are on the right track.  Yes, it sounds a little needy…and it is. But, many Millennials grew up with constant praise from their Baby Boomer parents. It’s what they know."
• Collaboration: "Millennials are extremely team-oriented and enjoy collaborating and building friendships with colleagues."
• Achievement Oriented: "Nurtured and pampered by parents who did not want to make the mistakes of the previous generation, Generation Y is confident, ambitious and achievement-oriented. They have high expectations of their employers, seek out new challenges and are not afraid to question authority. Generation Y wants meaningful work and a solid learning curve."

Most of the research community worry that this generation is too lazy, technology obsessed, and pampered.

What AUDREY Says:

You knew I was going to have something to say about this.

When I was first introduced to this label that my generation was given, I was somewhat shocked. Mostly because I was surprised at how absolutely negative everyone seemed to be about us. I knew we were far from perfect, but I didn't think we were that bad......little did I know apparently.

HOWEVER.

Here's my opinion.

There is a lot of truth to what researchers and studies have said about us. Growing up in the internet age and major technology advancement, I think it would be hard to not gain some of the overarching traits that we have. I'm not saying they're positive traits, but I think some of them were unavoidable. Of course we're tech-savvy.......what did you expect from kids who had to learn how to use every new computer lab they got in the schools? We've had computer classes since we were in grade school, so it's natural that we've become comfortable with it.

As far as the "me" characteristic goes, sadly, I think there's some truth to it. But I ALSO think they aren't telling the whole story. The Millennial Impact Association created this report from 2013 on the impact that Millennials had and how they perceived the world around them.

Click Here to see the full report.

If you're lazy like me (pardon my millennialism coming out) here's the part of the report that I thought was most interesting.



I think we Millennials are extremely passionate, about multiple areas, not just one. In my interaction with my generation, it's true that we crave connect and the sense of instant knowledge. I'm guilty of it. I thoroughly enjoy being able to find basically anything almost anywhere at anytime. BUT, I think the efficiency and specific ability we have to accomplish a lot of great things is extremely undermined and under-appreciated.

Something that did come up in my research occasionally, but I don't think nearly enough, was the pressure and expectations that have been put on our generation. Ever since we were kids, there has been this constant pressure to become greater, work harder, do more, and somehow keep our heads. Now, I'm not complaining, I'm making a pretty general statement. I put a lot of pressure on myself growing up, not because my parents were constantly on my back. It was mostly my personality. But I've seen it in a lot of other people, and I think this is a safe assumption. Society demands a lot from us, and will continue to demand a lot of us. I think this contributes to the so called "lazy" trait society has tagged us with. Maybe it's all that pressure that's constantly on us that some have found it easier to just seclude back in their rooms and just use social media to connect to the outside world. It's just a theory I have.

Despite all this, I think it's important for everyone to remember every generation we've had have all had their positives and negatives. Millennials aren't the first, and certainly won't be the last. Let's not even get started on what the generation after us is going to be like. #virtualreality

I think this article put out by the Pew Research Center gives an extremely good overview of both the positives and negatives of my generation. Give it a read----> Right here

Millennials may be a little too attached their smart phones, but they also control the world ahead of us, so I'd be careful what you say to them. ;)