That is what I think about when thinking about Gen X. I have clear examples because I’m myself in the millennial range, my (much) older brother is Gen X and my parents are boomers. I’d never lump my bro with the boomers and I consider gen X as a whole pretty chill. They’re all the bands I grew up listening to and carried the bulk of what made the 90s great. Boomers have fine individuals but as a whole they’re nasty.
It makes much more sense when a generation boundary is marked by some sort of significant societal shift. Like Boomers are people born after WWII ended. I guess Gen X kinda makes sense being defined as a generation that grew up after the civil rights act and the establishment of rock & roll. But it seems like there should also be something between that and the internet, because as you say there’s a difference in late Gen X. Maybe the advent of video games should be a cutoff. Someone who grew up with video games and VCRs in the 80s has a pretty different experience from someone who grew up in the 70s.
I’ve always been told the defining turn from boomers to Gen X was the end of the boom. Readily available birth control for men and women made family planning the norm. Gen X just doesn’t get a fancy name because they never got there “define with this” phenomena
That makes sense as a reason too. I think the 60s saw an undeniable cultural shift. The 80s is harder to pinpoint and yet I don’t know anyone born in the last years of the 70s that is comfortable with being grouped with Gen X without caveats.
I’m from 1980, so technically Gen X, but I’ve always associated more with millennials. My first phone (after I moved out of my parents’ house where we had landline) was a Nokia 3210 and I got my first email account in 1996.
Also a 1980 baby, but because of my dad’s work, we had the internet, such as it was, in late 86/ early 87, and I literally had a computer available to me since birth. Some of us got started on the digital part early.
Pew and a bunch of other think tanks are moving past generational studies as it seems that you are correct that you have more in common with people within 5 years of your age than people in your “generation”.
You need studies to demonstrate these effects in a scientific manner so yes/no as it could be done by a scholastic institution if it wasn’t done by think tanks.
AFAICT Gen X should really just be split into Boomers and early millennials.
I’m a late gen X (1978) and do not associate with boomers at all.
We’re basically millennials before the internet.
That is what I think about when thinking about Gen X. I have clear examples because I’m myself in the millennial range, my (much) older brother is Gen X and my parents are boomers. I’d never lump my bro with the boomers and I consider gen X as a whole pretty chill. They’re all the bands I grew up listening to and carried the bulk of what made the 90s great. Boomers have fine individuals but as a whole they’re nasty.
I’m also a late Gen X. Please, please, PLEASE don’t group us with Boomers. We’re nothing like them and proud of it.
Also GenX. Fuck everyone that isn’t my generation or I don’t know personally.
Gen X reporting.
Meh.
It makes much more sense when a generation boundary is marked by some sort of significant societal shift. Like Boomers are people born after WWII ended. I guess Gen X kinda makes sense being defined as a generation that grew up after the civil rights act and the establishment of rock & roll. But it seems like there should also be something between that and the internet, because as you say there’s a difference in late Gen X. Maybe the advent of video games should be a cutoff. Someone who grew up with video games and VCRs in the 80s has a pretty different experience from someone who grew up in the 70s.
I’ve always been told the defining turn from boomers to Gen X was the end of the boom. Readily available birth control for men and women made family planning the norm. Gen X just doesn’t get a fancy name because they never got there “define with this” phenomena
That makes sense as a reason too. I think the 60s saw an undeniable cultural shift. The 80s is harder to pinpoint and yet I don’t know anyone born in the last years of the 70s that is comfortable with being grouped with Gen X without caveats.
Worth noting that Douglas Copeland who wrote the book Generation X that gives the generation it’s name cut it off in 1974 if I recall correctly.
I was born in 77. I am the Star Wars generation.
I’m from 1980, so technically Gen X, but I’ve always associated more with millennials. My first phone (after I moved out of my parents’ house where we had landline) was a Nokia 3210 and I got my first email account in 1996.
You, my 1980 cousin, are Xennial! We have an analog childhood and a digital young adulthood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xennials?wprov=sfla1
Also a 1980 baby, but because of my dad’s work, we had the internet, such as it was, in late 86/ early 87, and I literally had a computer available to me since birth. Some of us got started on the digital part early.
See you in the third act :)
https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/generations-age/
Pew and a bunch of other think tanks are moving past generational studies as it seems that you are correct that you have more in common with people within 5 years of your age than people in your “generation”.
They needed think tanks to figure that one out?
You need studies to demonstrate these effects in a scientific manner so yes/no as it could be done by a scholastic institution if it wasn’t done by think tanks.
Hello fellow Xennial!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xennials?wprov=sfla1