By: Talia Leacock-Babb
If Generation Y is famous for anything, it’s probably for how much older folks complain about us. It’s always one thing or another that they’re taking issue with. Us crazy kids with our internet and gadgets are always too plugged in, too anti-social, too self-absorbed, too lazy and unmotivated, and quite frankly, I think, too unlike them. We’re much less likely to go out and get a job in our father’s ice cream shop at sixteen or visit the old lady at the end of the street like a Baby Boomer would have. But our hobbies and interests are different. That’s not to discount what the Baby Boomers, and Gen X-ers did to pass their time or make it through their teen and young adult years, and surely, they faced criticism from their parents’ generation too. But we have different goals and different paths for getting to those goals and there’s nothing wrong with that. The times have changed and the young person of today has adapted to the world as it is now much as the Baby Boomers and Generation X did in their youth.
We’re more techno-savvy because we have to be. We want things fast and easy because with the rise of services like fast food and online banking that’s what we’ve been conditioned to expect. If we’re impatient, plugged in or materialistic, it’s because of what were sold and told. Social networking, multi-purposed gadgets, the information highway, constantly changing fashion trends, the influence of crooners, rap stars, actors and athletes, and a bombardment of advertising and pushy marketing are all factors that work in shaping this generation into what it is. In the simplest terms, Generation Y represents an evolution of sorts, a change in the youth culture, and like every change, it comes with pros and cons.
I think the greatest issue is that the downside of our change is highlighted and the positive factors are downplayed. Truthfully, we Gen Y-ers have suffered losses in fighting to keep up with this world and its breakneck speed. Our ability to appreciate art (“How Generation Y Killed Art Faster than the Dodo), our time for leisure reading (“No Time For Reading Anymore,”), and our interest in our health (Please, Take the Stairs,” pg. 18) have all waned considerably. These aren’t losses we should take lightly, but in the same token, they aren’t necessarily permanent. What was lost can be found again.
For every loss though, our generation has gained something. The social networks that our parents claim make us so anti-social are actually great tools that make communication much easier. Relationships can be started, propelled and maintained through tools like Facebook, Twitter and smartphones as Vittoria Natarelli points out in “Generation Easy Love,”. We’ve become more entrepreneurial in response to a market that has struggled to reach us (“Y is the Answer, Not the Question,”). We’ve created a language all our own, that while often criticized by older generations who cling to grammar like a dying man to a raft, has its own functions (“Debunking the Myths of Generation Y Lingo,”).
No we’re not perfect, but no Baby Boomer could ever convince me that they were. We’re adapting to the world around us the best we can. We make mistakes and there are consequences to pay, but we shouldn’t be defined by where we’ve gone wrong. MacMedia has taken this opportunity to really assess our generation as we see it, to face our shortcomings, but also to embrace our achievements. They may complain and berate us, but don’t let them beat you down. Gen Y, rise up!
