Recently, this article from ‘Medium’ caught my attention and stirred multitude of emotions. Never in the history is a generation ridiculed so openly and negatively, and the world tends to agree with this ridicule. I find that I can neither agree, nor disagree, and torn between the agreement and disagreement is the fact that Gen-Z was not supposed to be Gen-Z in the first place!
And that’s why this long article.
Behavioural Stake or Gen-Y’s Mistake?
As 1996 got ready for its departure, Generation Y paved way for the next generation, i.e. Z.
There was nothing new or odd in this ritual. Since 1900s, the history has been keeping record of generational change. It was a process that was inevitable, expected and welcomed. Earlier, the gap used to be 20 years long, and later shrunk to less than 15 years. Determining change was easy; there were changes in attitudes and preferences marked by changing beliefs and values. And therefore, there were changing markets that fed these attitudes and preferences, built up on beliefs and values.
The system was super simple to understand in 3 steps
- Generations changing every 20 years or less
- Each new generation holding slightly varied values and beliefs
- Markets changing to capitalize on this change
So, generations succeeded each other, first with dedicated names, then through English alphabets. When they chose to use English alphabets, they started with X. After X, Y and Z, they ran short of names. Now, they turned to Greek letters, as they always do. In Trigonometry (sin α and cos β), in Physics (refractive index µ).
The progression was largely systematic therefore; generation X, followed by generation Y, followed by generation Z, followed by Greek-letter backed generations. But something went wrong, somewhere in between. After generation Y, it was not generation Z… It was Gen-Z, pronounced Gen-Zee.
It may sound crazy, baseless and ignorant, but there was a remarkable difference between what was expected to happen and what happened. Expected to happen was ‘Generation Z’; what happened was ‘Gen Zee’. And they were both eras apart. Not in time, but in philosophies. To understand, a little delve into evolution of generations is necessary.
How do generations evolve?
There are 3 factors that trigger the change between generations, (i) Technological, (ii) Social, and (iii) Cultural. Every time the technology advances, it changes the way societies communicate and interact. Every time the way of interaction and communication within societies varies, it changes the dynamics of relationships at homes and workplaces, and the new beliefs and values replace older ones; this brings cultural shift.
Until Generation Y, the 3 shifts underlying as the key triggers to generational change, were taking place gradually and periodically. Technologies advanced, to make the tasks simpler, faster, easier. Social structures matured, to accommodate the disparities, with an intention to make them narrower. Cultures assimilated, as the geographical boundaries blurred between countries. Nothing was too sudden or too unexpected. The human race was able to align itself reasonably with these changes; sooner or later the world adjusted to what was happening around itself.
But after Generation Y, marking the end of 1996 when it was Generation Z to be welcomed into the world, began the era that was both sudden and unexpected. And this time, the human race faltered.
What happened?
In 1997, Wi-Fi was invented. Backed by a catchy name that was extremely attractive to set the trend almost immediately, Wi-Fi was rapidly introduced to the computers and mobile phones all over the planet, to all those machines which could afford its monthly plans. And those machines which could not afford, waited till they could do so. This particular invention meant that the world no longer relied upon the long, thick and ugly yellow chords which if twisted would not budge from their awkward positions until plugged. This meant that societies and cultures now interacted with each other on-the-go, influencing each other as they did so. Beliefs shifted slightly, habits shifted little more, preferences shifted tremendously and human race shifted like never before, since Neanderthal man’s times.
2003 saw the advent of camera phones. This specific invention completely eroded the camera industry, and gave the leap to mobile phone industry for good and non-so-good. Taking photos and ‘capturing the moment’ had been always exciting since the birth of time; but capturing the moments in the speed that was so rapid as to have clicking becoming the Olympic Sport of generation was something else. To the horror of parents during the time, this was the technology that fit well with the kids, and the youth, with the mental capacities leveraged to maximum, learnt the art of clicking on mobile phones with complete dedication. However, if the older generations thought this was the worst, all they had to do was wait for another year.
Evolution of Generation
Another year, i.e., 2004, was the year when Facebook was launched. Mike Zuckerberg became the God of era, controlling future and destinies. Children may be struggling with spelling difficult words, but they could chronicle the current and past life of Zuckerberg with accuracy. In terms of addiction, Facebook surpassed all vices. It was more addictive than liquor or narcotics. By ‘account’, people tended to mean ‘Facebook account’. ‘Socialization’ suddenly became the mantra for survival, and the human race realized all of a sudden that it had to stay connected if it had to survive; no matter if the connection was virtual.
Backed by the power of selfies from earlier invention, Facebook created a virtual globe that the world tirelessly navigated. And this navigation stole from them the virtues that were built generationally. Because now, there was a strategic shift seen in all the 3 pillars of generational evolution:
- The man no more controlled technology; technology controlled him
- Social structures ceased to develop; they were now formed virtually
- Cultures failed to find boundaries that lay strong protocols; they spilled over each other
Then the years 2005 and 2007 witnessed YouTube and iPhone creating distinguished places in the world. Both of these inventions had ordinary individuality, but when combined with the earlier inventions, they were extremely powerful. Internet backed YouTube rapidly spun its web over the little minds of the growing generation. iPhone gave 2- and 3-year-olds the ease of colourful entertainment that was ceaseless.
Technically, Gen-Z found itself being raised up in an environment where YouTube videos replaced the books, online friends replaced the actual friends, online guidance replaced the family teachings, and something unknown replaced the parents.
The parents! That is, Gen-Y. The parents, immersed into online chats, scrolling through mobile phones, finding pride in creating playlists, were not the parents they were meant to be. They were iGen parents of iGen kids; moulding the children in the moulds that they did not create themselves. The mould creation was largely an outsourced activity.
The younger generation therefore grew up with technology, by technology, and became Gen-Z, which is tech-flamboyant but hopelessly internet reliant. This younger generation, much beyond well-educated and aware of the problems at the scale that is more than domestic, national or international, became Gen Z, which is conscious of mental-health, still constantly stressed. This younger generation, smart and well equipped with skills to learn and finish in moments, became Gen-Z, who are multitaskers, down with attention span disasters. Do you still blame the poor generation?
Well researched, Thanks for sharing!