Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Modern US Generations from a historical, cultural, and technological outlook Part II

To continue with this chart:

Now with the Millennial Generation:

Millennials usually go from 1982-mid to late 1990s, coming of age in the early 21st century. If you implement the cultural aspect of the generation, the historical events of the generation besides the actual baby boom, and the technological aspect, the generation is definitely going to shift.

Starting with the historical aspect of Millennials: They grew up in the 1990's and the 2000's as children, and grew up in the Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama era as kids, and the Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama era as teens. They witnessed the OJ Simpson trial, Windows 95 release, OKC bombing, 1996 election, 2Pac and Biggie murders, Princess Diana's death, Monica Lewinsky scandal, Stock Market crash, Columbine shooting, Y2K, 2000 election, turn of the century, 9/11, start of the Afghanistan War, establishment of Homeland security, Iraq War, MySpace release, Facebook release, YouTube release, Hurricane Katrina, Twitter release, iPhone release, Great Recession, and 2008 election, all in school. So that could relate to anyone born as early as 1977 and as late as 2006 (for the Iraq War), for being in school for those events. So in total Millennials would stretch from 1977-2006. But to narrow it down, I think you should turn between ages 5 and 20 for a certain event to be a Millennial, the first age where you will most likely pick up memory and the last age of typical adolescence:

  1. OJ Simpson - 1975-1990
  2. OKC bombing - 1975-1990
  3. Windows 95 release - 1975-1990
  4. 2Pac assassination - 1976-1991
  5. 1996 election - 1976-1991
  6. Notorious B.I.G. assassination - 1977-1992
  7. Princess Diana's death - 1977-1992
  8. Monica Lewinsky scandal - 1978-1993
  9. Stock Market crash - 1978-1993
  10. Columbine shooting - 1979-1994
  11. Y2K - 1979-1994
  12. 2000 election - 1980-1995
  13. Turn of the century - 1980-1995
  14. 9/11 - 1981-1996
  15. Start of the Afghanistan War - 1981-1996
  16. Establishment of Homeland Security - 1982-1997
  17. Iraq War - 1983-2006
  18. MySpace release - 1983-1998
  19. Facebook release - 1984-1999
  20. YouTube release - 1985-2000
  21. Hurricane Katrina - 1985-2000
  22. Twitter release - 1986-2001
  23. iPhone release - 1987-2002
  24. Great Recession - 1987-2004
  25. 2008 election - 1988-2003

Combining all of these definitions and events with the start date from 1975-1988, the median start date is 1982, while combining the end dates of 1990-2006, then the median end date is 1998. So historically, Millennials are 1982-1998. Being in school works historically as well:

  1. OJ Simpson - 1977-1989
  2. OKC bombing - 1977-1989
  3. Windows 95 release - 1978-1990
  4. 2Pac assassination - 1979-1991
  5. 1996 election - 1979-1991
  6. Notorious B.I.G. assassination - 1979-1991
  7. Princess Diana's death - 1980-1992
  8. Monica Lewinsky scandal - 1980-1992
  9. Stock Market crash - 1981-1993
  10. Columbine shooting - 1981-1993
  11. Y2K - 1982-1994
  12. 2000 election - 1983-1995
  13. Turn of the century - 1983-1995
  14. 9/11 - 1984-1996
  15. Start of the Afghanistan War - 1984-1996
  16. Establishment of Homeland Security - 1985-1997
  17. Iraq War - 1985-2006
  18. MySpace release - 1986-1998
  19. Facebook release - 1986-1998
  20. YouTube release - 1987-1999
  21. Hurricane Katrina - 1988-2000
  22. Twitter release - 1989-2001
  23. iPhone release - 1989-2001
  24. Great Recession - 1990-2003
  25. 2008 election - 1991-2003

Combining all of these definitions and events with the start date from 1977-1991, the median start date is 1984, while combining the end dates of 1989-2006, then the median end date is 1998. So historically, Millennials are 1984-1998.

Combining the historical start date of 1982 with basing the events by being 5-20 and the historical start date of 1984 with basing events by being in K-12, would make the definitive historical start date of 1983. Historically, Millennials make sense as 1983-1998 in totality.

Now with the cultural aspect of Millennials: Millennials mainly were children in the late 1980's, 1990's, and the 2000's. They were the first generation that grew up with protective parenting or helicopter parenting, after some dangerous incidents of kids going missing and being kidnapped or even killed in the late 1970's/early 1980's. They grew up with grunge, gangsta rap, teen pop, boy bands, pop punk, punk emo, mainstream emo, scene, R&B, bling rap, etc. They grew up as children during the Disney Renaissance. Some cultural aspects of the Millennials Generation are things like popular entertainment that included movies like Clueless, American Pie, Mean Girls, White Chicks, Freaky Friday, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc., TV shows like That 70's Show, Malcolm In the Middle, Boy Meets World, FRIENDS (this show was also popular TV shows for Gen X), Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Full House, The George Lopez, Degrassi: The Next Generation, All That, Kenan & Kel, The Amanda Show, Drake and Josh, etc., and cartoons like Rugrats, Rocko's Modern Life, Ren & Stimpy, Doug, Catdog, Spongebob Squarepants, Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Jimmy Neutron, Proud Family, etc. Artists and musical groups such as the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Destiny's Child, Blink-182, Avril Lavigne, Hanson, Aaron Carter, Jesse McCartney, Eminem, Jay Z, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, etc., were musical icons for this generation. I'm not really sure about how to define too much of the cultural definition of Millennials, but I think that it makes sense to start Millennials culturally in 1978 because the 1978 birth year is the first to seem more culturally Millennial than X culturally, as well not remembering the 1970's, spending most of high school when Kurt Cobain died, and were still in college in the year 2000, and the actors born in 1978 seem a bit more Millennial than the 1977 borns, though some 1977ers seem pretty Millennial. I think the end date should probably be 1997 because they were probably the last to have any memory of the 20th century and maybe even the 1990's, depending on the individual, graduated high school before Donald Trump ran for president, they were the last in high school during the Iraq War, and they most likely graduated college before the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, they were born before overtly stereotypical Gen Z celebrities like XXXTentacion, Jaden Smith, Juice Wrld, MrBeast (?), in 1998. This might have not been as thorough as it should have been but I didn't want to spend days on this. Culturally, Millennials should be 1978-1997.

Finally with the technological aspect: Millennials were the first generation to grow up with the internet as it started to become available to Americans in the mid '90s. And they were the first generation to grow up with social media. They grew up with a lot of other appliances being manufactured or being invented by then. I will show some of those, too.

To base a generation off of this, depending on when the appliance/gadget, etc. came out, will either be based on those who were either 5-20 during this event. Here are some technological items that came out during the mid-late 1990's, 2000's, and early-mid 2010's:

  1. Windows 95 - 1975-1990
  2. PlayStation - 1975-1990
  3. Java - 1975-1990
  4. E-commerce - 1975-1990
  5. N64 - 1976-1991
  6. DVDs - 1977-1992
  7. AIM - 1977-1992
  8. Near-field communication - 1977-1992
  9. MP3 Player - 1977-1992
  10. Netflix - 1977-1992
  11. Gameboy Color - 1978-1993
  12. HDTV - 1978-1993
  13. Windows 98 - 1978-1993
  14. Google - 1978-1993
  15. DVR - 1979-1994
  16. Sega Dreamcast - 1979-1994
  17. Amazon - 1979-1994
  18. USB flash drives - 1980-1995
  19. Camera phones - 1980-1995
  20. Windows 2000 - 1980-1995
  21. PlayStation 2 - 1980-1995
  22. Apple Mac OS X - 1980-1995
  23. Wikipedia - 1981-1996
  24. Windows XP - 1981-1996
  25. iPod - 1981-1996
  26. GameCube - 1981-1996
  27. XBOX - 1981-1996
  28. Gameboy Advance - 1981-1996
  29. Bluetooth headsets - 1982-1997
  30. Blackberry - 1983-1998
  31. MySpace - 1983-1998
  32. Skype - 1983-1998
  33. Facebook - 1984-1999
  34. Web 2.0 - 1984-1999
  35. Nintendo DS - 1984-1999
  36. PSP - 1985-2000
  37. YouTube - 1985-2000
  38. Xbox 360 - 1985-2000
  39. MacBook Pro - 1986-2001
  40. Bluray - 1986-2001
  41. Twitter - 1986-2001
  42. PlayStation 3 - 1986-2001
  43. Wii - 1986-2001
  44. iPhone - 1987-2002
  45. Kindle - 1987-2002
  46. Flash memory - 1988-2003
  47. USB 3.0 - 1988-2003
  48. Android - 1988-2003
  49. Apple's App Store - 1988-2003
  50. Bitcoin - 1989-2004
  51. Windows 7 - 1989-2004
  52. iPad - 1990-2005
  53. Instagram - 1990-2005
  54. Smartphones overtake dumb phones - 1991-2006
  55. Snapchat - 1991-2006
  56. Minecraft - 1991-2006
  57. Windows 8 - 1992-2007
  58. Vine - 1993-2008
  59. Xbox One - 1993-2008
  60. PlayStation 4 - 1993-2008
  61. Brain computer interfaces - 1994-2009
  62. Wireless electricity - 1994-2009
  63. Self-driving cars - 1995-2010

Combining the 5-20 ages for the start dates from 1975-1995 and the end dates from 1990-2010, the median start date is 1985 and the median end date is 2000, so Millennials would technologically be from 1985-2000 with ages 5-20.

Combining the 1980-1997, 1983-1998, and 1985-2000 definitions will give us the ultimate Millennials range of 1982-1999. The oldest to relate to Millennials historically are those born in 1975, because of the Windows 95 release, while the oldest to relate to Millennials historically are those born in 2006, because of the Iraq War. The oldest to relate to Millennials technologically are those born in 1975 because of the Windows 95 release, while the youngest to relate to Millennials technologically are those born in 2010 because of self-driving cars.

Here are a few articles (but not all) that were used for the Millennials:

https://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/tech-nostalgia-the-top-10-innovations-of-the-2000s/

https://www.businessinsider.com/game-changing-tech-from-the-2000s-2012-8#1-iphone-2007-10

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/iphone-bitcoin-youtube-amazon-skype-5g-wikipedia-streaming-a9257691.html

https://newatlas.com/technolgy-world-firsts-2010/16942/

https://www.nj.com/business/2011/09/smartphones_overtake_feature_p.html

Now with the Generation Z:

Generation Z usually goes from about 1997-2012. If you implement the cultural aspect of the generation, the historical events of the generation besides the actual baby boom, and the technological aspect, the generation is definitely going to shift.

Starting with the historical aspect of Millennials: They grew up in the 2000's, 2010's, and 2020's as children, and grew up in the Bush Jr., Obama, Trump, etc. era as kids, and the Obama, Trump, etc. era as teens. They witnessed the legalization of gay marriage, Donald Trump running for presidency, Paris bombings, Brexit, 2016 election, Fortnite release, tide pod incident, Parkland shootings, release of Tiktok, Trump impeachment, COVID-19 pandemic, and 2020 election, all in school. So that could relate to anyone born as early as 1997 and as late as 2016 (for the end of the pandemic), for being in school for those events. So in total Generation Z would stretch from 1997-2016. But to narrow it down, I think you should turn between ages 0 and 20 for a certain event to be Gen Z (since there are still a lot of Gen Z events to come forward), the first age where you are born and the last age of typical adolescence:

  1. Donald Trump running for presidency - 1995-2015
  2. Legalization of gay marriage - 1995-2015
  3. Paris bombings - 1995-2015
  4. Brexit - 1996-2016
  5. 2016 election - 1996-2016
  6. Fortnite release - 1997-2017
  7. Tide pod incident - 1998-2018
  8. Parkland shootings - 1998-2018
  9. US Release of TikTok - 1998-2018
  10. Trump impeachment - 1999-2019
  11. COVID-19 pandemic - 2000-2021
  12. 2020 election - 2000-2020

Combining all of these definitions and events with the start date from 1995-2000, the median start date is 1998, while combining the end dates of 2015-2021, then the median end date is 2018. So historically, Generation Z are 1998-2018. Being in school works historically as well:

  1. Donald Trump running for presidency - 1997-2009
  2. Legalization of gay marriage - 1997-2009
  3. Paris bombings - 1998-2010
  4. Brexit - 1998-2010
  5. 2016 election - 1999-2011
  6. Fortnite release - 2000-2012
  7. Tide pod incident - 2000-2012
  8. Parkland shootings - 2000-2012
  9. US Release of TikTok - 2001-2013
  10. Trump impeachment - 2002-2014
  11. COVID-19 pandemic - 2002-2016
  12. 2020 election - 2003-2015

Combining all of these definitions and events with the start date from 1997-2003, the median start date is 2000, while combining the end dates of 2009-2016, then the median end date is 2013. So historically, Generation Z are 2000-2013.

Combining the historical start date of 1998 and end date of 2018 with basing the events by being 0-20 and the historical start date of 2000 and end date of 2013 with basing events by being in K-12, would make the definitive historical start date of 1999 and end date of 2016. Historically, Generation Z make sense as 1999-2016 in totality.

Now with the cultural aspect of Generation Z: Generation Z mainly were children in the 2000's, 2010's, and the 2020's. They were the first generation that grew up with post-9/11, not knowing of the pre-9/11 peace and optimism. They grew up with trap rap, rock (though it was dying), mumble rap, EDM, electropop, emo rap, etc. They are the first generation to grow up with rap as the main genre instead of rock or pop. Some cultural aspects of Generation Z are things like popular entertainment that included movies like The Kissing Booth, To All of The Boys I've Loved Before, Sierra Burgess, Tall Girl, The Perfect Date, The Hate U Give, Love Simon, etc., TV shows like On The Block, Riverdale, All American, Outer Banks, Euphoria, Cobra Kai, Stranger Things, etc., and childhood shows like iCarly, Big Time Rush, Wizards of Waverly Place, Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Suite Life on Deck, Hannah Montana, Victorious, Henry Danger, Shake It Up, etc. Artists such as Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, BTS, Drake, XXXTentacion, Pop Smoke, Lil Uzi Vert, etc., are examples of musical icons for this generation. I'm not really sure about how to define too much of the cultural definition of Generation Z, but I think that it makes sense to start Generation Z culturally in 1997 because they were not yet in school for 9/11, they became teenagers in the 2010's, they spent most of high school when Vine was released, could have still been in college during COVID-19, and the actors born in 1997 seem a little Z than the 1996 borns, though some 1996ers seem pretty Z. I think the end date should probably be 2014 because they were probably the last to have any possibility of remembering the 2016 election, depending on the individual, and were in K-12 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Culturally, Generation Z should be 1997-2014.

Finally with the technological aspect: Generation Z were the first generation to grow up with mainly digital technology. And they were the first generation to only know of a world with social media. They grew up with a lot of other appliances being manufactured or being invented by then. I will show some of those, too.

To base a generation off of this, depending on when the appliance/gadget, etc. came out, will either be based on those who were either 0-17 during this event (I think using 0-17 instead of 0-20 or 5-20 for this). Here are some technological items that came out during the early 2010's, 2020's, and early 2030's (anything past 2021/2022 is either a prediction, projected, or speculated to happen then):

  1. Snapchat - 1994-2011
  2. Minecraft - 1994-2011
  3. Windows 8 - 1995-2012
  4. Vine - 1996-2013
  5. Xbox One - 1996-2013
  6. PlayStation 4 - 1996-2013
  7. Brain computer interfaces - 1997-2014
  8. Wireless electricity - 1997-2014
  9. Self-driving cars - 1998-2015
  10. PlayStation VR - 1999-2016
  11. Pokemon GO! - 1999-2016
  12. TikTok - 1999-2016
  13. Nintendo Switch - 2000-2017
  14. AMD Ryzen - 2000-2017
  15. Fortnite - 2000-2017
  16. Augmented reality - 2001-2018
  17. Apple TV+ - 2002-2019
  18. Disney+ - 2002-2019
  19. 5G - 2003-2020
  20. Extended reality - 2003-2020
  21. PlayStation 5 - 2003-2020
  22. Xbox Series X - 2003-2020
  23. Artificial Intelligence - 2004-2021
  24. Quantum Computing - 2005-2022
  25. Universal Memory - 2005-2022
  26. Cloud Computing - 2005-2022
  27. Autonomous AI microscopes - 2006-2023
  28. New prosthetic models convey sensations of feeling - 2007-2024
  29. AI-optimized manufacturing - 2008-2025
  30. First 3D Fast Bus, the Land Airbus, is tested on Chinese roads - 2009-2026
  31. Dubai World Central "Al Maktoum International Airport" is fully built - 2010-2027
  32. Hypersonic missiles are in military use - 2011-2028
  33. Gestures, holograms, and matrix-style mind uploading - 2012-2029
  34. The 6G standard is released - 2013-2030
  35. ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics) - 2014-2031

Combining the 0-17 ages for the start dates from 1994-2014 and the end dates from 2011-2031, the median start date is 2004 and the median end date is 2021, so Millennials would technologically be from 2004-2021 with ages 0-17.

Combining the 1997-2014, 1999-2016, and 2004-2021 definitions will give us the ultimate Generation Z range of 2000-2017. The oldest to relate to Millennials historically are those born in 1995, because of the legalization of gay marriage, while the oldest to relate to Generation Z historically are those born in 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The oldest to relate to Generation Z technologically are those born in 1994 because of the Snapchat release, while the youngest to relate to Generation Z technologically are those born in 2031 because of ATHENA.

Here are a few articles (but not all) that were used for Generation Z:

https://www.futuretimeline.net/21stcentury/2030.htm

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2018/12/31/2018-year-technology/2388953002/

https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-most-iconic-tech-innovations-of-the-2010s

https://www.ypulse.com/article/2019/10/08/the-17-musicians-gen-z-millennials-say-represent-their-generations/

https://www.ranker.com/list/movies-about-generation-z/ranker-film

https://www.moderneast.com/entertainment/watch/netflix-top-5-gen-z-teen-movies-220388.html

I tried my best with these, but I was probably still a bit biased with how I arranged these dates, but oh well.

Here is how the generations look historically, culturally, and technologically, as well as all in one:

Historically:

Baby Boomers: 1945-1961

Early Baby Boomers: 1945-1949

Core Baby Boomers: 1950-1956

Late Baby Boomers: 1957-1961

Baby Boomers/Generation X cusp years: 1962-1965

Generation X: 1966-1980

Early X: 1966-1970

Core X: 1971-1975

Late X: 1976-1980

Generation X/Millennial cusp years: 1981 & 1982

Millennials: 1983-1998

Early Millennials: 1983-1987

Core Millennials: 1988-1993

Late Millennials: 1994-1998

Generation Z: 1999-2016

Early Z: 1999-2004

Core Z: 2005-2010

Late Z: 2011-2016

Culturally:

Baby Boomers: 1940-1958

Early Baby Boomers: 1940-1945

Core Baby Boomers: 1946-1952

Late Baby Boomers: 1953-1958

Baby Boomers/Generation X cusp year: 1959

Generation X: 1960-1977

Early X: 1960-1965

Core X: 1966-1971

Late X: 1972-1977

Millennials: 1978-1997

Early Millennials: 1978-1984

Core Millennials: 1985-1990

Late Millennials: 1991-1997

Generation Z: 1997-2014

Early Z: 1997-2002

Core Z: 2003-2008

Late Z: 2009-2014

Technologically:

Baby Boomers: 1952-1967

Early Baby Boomers: 1952-1956

Core Baby Boomers: 1957-1962

Late Baby Boomers: 1963-1967

Baby Boomers/Generation X cusp year: 1968

Generation X: 1969-1984

Early X: 1969-1973

Core X: 1974-1979

Late X: 1980-1984

Millennials: 1985-2000

Early Millennials: 1985-1989

Core Millennials: 1990-1995

Late Millennials: 1996-2000

Millennial/Generation Z cusp years: 2001-2003

Generation Z: 2004-2021

Early Z: 2004-2009

Core Z: 2010-2015

Late Z: 2016-2021

In Total (18 years each; the actual years)

Baby Boomers: 1946-1963

Early Baby Boomers: 1946-1951

Core Baby Boomers: 1952-1957

Late Baby Boomers: 1958-1963

Generation X: 1964-1981

Early X: 1964-1969

Core X: 1970-1975

Late X: 1976-1981

Millennials: 1982-1999

Early Millennials: 1982-1987

Core Millennials: 1988-1993

Late Millennials: 1994-1999

Generation Z: 2000-2017

Early Z: 2000-2005

Core Z: 2006-2011

Late Z: 2012-2017

I know some of y'all won't agree with this, but I think this will be my standard definitions that I will go with from now on, at least I think. We'll see. But I will keep making up new theories besides my new main theory, which is this.


No comments:

Post a Comment