Per Harvard: Gen X is 1965-1984, Millennials is 1986- 2004, Boomers 1945-1964. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Xennials are a legit sub-generation. I'm a 75 baby and see a stark difference between people born in the early 80s and the mid-80s onwards. But they still vary greatly from Gen Xers.

I see GenX as 65-80ish and Millennials beginning in 81, but with a Xennial sub-gen around 78 to 83.

The difference is the availability of technology in youth. Internet happened in late 90s, cell phones in early 00s. For those born in early 80s, internet exposure wasn't till college (and the sudden explosion of AOL IM); cell phones early 2000s after graduation from college. It made for vastly different school (and thus, cultural) experiences

I also think there are pop culture differences that matter. Grunge was an xennial thing; emo a millennial thing

[Anonymous]

"Generations" is nonsense pseudo-history created for the purposes of marketing. The authors ignore events that don't fit their master timeline (9/11). It is true that cohorts share life experiences, but the idea that Americans can be neatly divided into groups and be personality typed on the basis of that timeline is ridiculous. It's basically astrology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Generations" is nonsense pseudo-history created for the purposes of marketing. The authors ignore events that don't fit their master timeline (9/11). It is true that cohorts share life experiences, but the idea that Americans can be neatly divided into groups and be personality typed on the basis of that timeline is ridiculous. It's basically astrology.

Thank you. I'm 1961 born and don't fit the narrative of Boomers or GenX!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Generations" is nonsense pseudo-history created for the purposes of marketing. The authors ignore events that don't fit their master timeline (9/11). It is true that cohorts share life experiences, but the idea that Americans can be neatly divided into groups and be personality typed on the basis of that timeline is ridiculous. It's basically astrology.

No one is saying everyone fits perfectly or that there’s a perfect dividing line. But while astrology is entirely made up, cohorts are shaped by the culture, technology, macro trends, and major events of their time

[Anonymous]

Born 1987, and most millennial posts I reject as relative to myself. However I find myself closely relating to gen x posts. It could be different for me, as I was the "baby" in the family (until I was 15, anyways) my sister and cousins all being born in the late 70s/ early 80s. So having grown up with gen x could weigh on what "my generation" is. I did however learn cursive in school, and never learned common core math, I have used a rotary phone, used a phone book, lived a childhood without a computer (until I was 8 or 9 and my parents got us a Windows 95), can remember all too well the sound of dial up, used an old school Polaroid camera, owned one of the "best" mp3 players that held a whopping 180 songs, recorded songs off the radio onto a cassette tape, had a collection of cassette tapes... Anyways, I could go on. I have done a lot more that gen x has than most "millennials" ever have. Born in the 80s, raised in the 90s. Maybe we are neither gen x or millennial, maybe we are our own breed. Maybe 1985-1989 is the "special generation" but if not a short, unique generational period, id much rather be considered a gen x than a millennial...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Xennials are a legit sub-generation. I'm a 75 baby and see a stark difference between people born in the early 80s and the mid-80s onwards. But they still vary greatly from Gen Xers.

I see GenX as 65-80ish and Millennials beginning in 81, but with a Xennial sub-gen around 78 to 83.

The difference is the availability of technology in youth. Internet happened in late 90s, cell phones in early 00s. For those born in early 80s, internet exposure wasn't till college (and the sudden explosion of AOL IM); cell phones early 2000s after graduation from college. It made for vastly different school (and thus, cultural) experiences

I also think there are pop culture differences that matter. Grunge was an xennial thing; emo a millennial thing

My sister was born in 81, we had a computer in our house long before she went to college, at least 4 years. I was born in 87, AIM was just getting to be a big thing maybe around my junior year of high school, 6 or 7 years after my sister's graduation. Before that it was ICQ and chat rooms on MSN. I'll agree to cell phones becoming more prominent in early 00s. But my mom had one since mid-late 90s. A cute little flip phone that the battery would die after about 2 hours of talking on it.

The early end of millennials know much more/ have experienced more than the middle and later years of the generation has. I agree that there is a Xennial generation, however I feel that it is more of 85-89... Those born in the 80s and raised in the 90s. But I mean, that's just my perception based on how I feel from my life experiences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Xennials are a legit sub-generation. I'm a 75 baby and see a stark difference between people born in the early 80s and the mid-80s onwards. But they still vary greatly from Gen Xers.

I see GenX as 65-80ish and Millennials beginning in 81, but with a Xennial sub-gen around 78 to 83.

The difference is the availability of technology in youth. Internet happened in late 90s, cell phones in early 00s. For those born in early 80s, internet exposure wasn't till college (and the sudden explosion of AOL IM); cell phones early 2000s after graduation from college. It made for vastly different school (and thus, cultural) experiences

I also think there are pop culture differences that matter. Grunge was an xennial thing; emo a millennial thing

How old were you in the 90s? I grew up in a lower-middle-class family in rural part of the country. We had the Internet at home and school by the mid 90s. ICQ was popular, before shifting to MSN Messenger, and then AIM. Napster came out before 2000, and before that there was Scour. By my college years in the early 2000s, a lot of us already had Nokia cell phones. Facebook didn't come until my senior year of college, although AIM continued to be more impactful for a few more years.

From a technology perspective, I think people born in 1982 have a lot more in common with people born in 1985 than 1979. Except for the 2008 recession, the usual 1982 cutoff makes a lot more sense than 1985.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Born 1987, and most millennial posts I reject as relative to myself. However I find myself closely relating to gen x posts. It could be different for me, as I was the "baby" in the family (until I was 15, anyways) my sister and cousins all being born in the late 70s/ early 80s. So having grown up with gen x could weigh on what "my generation" is. I did however learn cursive in school, and never learned common core math, I have used a rotary phone, used a phone book, lived a childhood without a computer (until I was 8 or 9 and my parents got us a Windows 95), can remember all too well the sound of dial up, used an old school Polaroid camera, owned one of the "best" mp3 players that held a whopping 180 songs, recorded songs off the radio onto a cassette tape, had a collection of cassette tapes... Anyways, I could go on. I have done a lot more that gen x has than most "millennials" ever have. Born in the 80s, raised in the 90s. Maybe we are neither gen x or millennial, maybe we are our own breed. Maybe 1985-1989 is the "special generation" but if not a short, unique generational period, id much rather be considered a gen x than a millennial...

My brother and I are ‘87 and ‘90, and all of this applies to us too. These aren’t uniquely Gen X.

[Anonymous]

Def not gen x. My older cousins were gen x and different vibe and culture at that time.

[Anonymous]

In my immediate and extended family the older Gen-exers have more of a Baby Boom vibe than those of us born in the early, mid and late 70s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1980 and I'm a true Xennial. Not really X, but a little old for true Millienial.

My DH is 1976 and is clearly much more Gen X. It's amazing since it's only a few years.

Having the internet around for all of high school (late 90s) high school is the sign you are NOT Gen X. Even though it was slow.

1979 here and agree. I’m an xennial

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1980 and I'm a true Xennial. Not really X, but a little old for true Millienial.

My DH is 1976 and is clearly much more Gen X. It's amazing since it's only a few years.

Having the internet around for all of high school (late 90s) high school is the sign you are NOT Gen X. Even though it was slow.

1979 here and agree. I’m an xennial

I was born in 1977 and I would say I'm a xennial, though heavier on the "x". I was using the internet (Mosaic, Netscape) in the latter part of high school, definitely the last two years of high school.

[Anonymous]

In general, I find that the last 5 years of each "generation" is a transition period. The kids that were born in that era, vary quite a bit. If they are the youngest, the often tend towards the generation before because they were influenced a lot by their siblings. If they are the oldest or only then they tend either to be a "no man's land" of neither generation before or after, or they lean towards the next generation because their siblings are in that generation.

So, I know many born in 60-65 who are like that. I also know many born in the 80-85 who are like that, and so on.