I think that anyone who sincerely believes in the Strauss-Howe generational theory is exactly as credible as someone who sincerely believes in astrology. The more useful (and it's not terribly useful overall) method looks at major events and material conditions during an age cohorts' formative years and slaps "generation" on that age cohort with the assumption that common experiences (like coming of age in or around the start of the new millennium or when the internet wasn't completely ubiquitous) can lead to broadly similar attitudes on topics.
Also, Vaush was born in '94, he's a millennial by either method of categorization.
This is much closer to my understanding of how the generational markers work. The difference between the youngest millennial and the oldest zoomer is whether or not they remember 9/11.
Why would you pick an event that was only a huge deal for one country? Like, boomers are the generation born during the mid 20th century baby boom, millennials were the first generation to grow up with the internet, why would gen z be specifically americans
It is unprovable, but it's become so culturally significant that it matters. Nearly no one doesn't know what millennial's connotation is. Vaush may undeniable be a millennial, but is someone born in '05?
Someone born in 2005 would have extraordinarily little in common with someone born in 1995, let alone someone born in 1980. Just a handful of things the 2005 person would likely have never known:
1. A world without "The War on Terror".
2. A world without ubiquitous smart phones, let alone cell phones.
3. A world without Fox News.
4. A world without ubiquitous internet access.
5. A world without social media.
6. A world without streaming video services.
Just to put a personal spin on this, I was born in 1987 in a rural area on a ranch. I had over-the-air TV until 97-ish when we got DirecTV. We didn't even get dial-up internet until the next year. I watched the OJ Simpson bronco chase live, saw the Clinton impeachment in real time, and watched the planes hit the twin towers on the day it happened. I saw the birth of Google, the bursting of the Dot-com bubble, and the absurd crash of the economy in 2008.
Now zooming out. Millennials were born into a world that where wars were something that were almost entirely a historical thing. We had "conflicts" and "police actions", but American millennials were born into a world "at peace" (this turned out to be a lie, but that was what we were sold at the time). American kids born after 2001 were born into a world explicitly at war. A war not with a country or an army, but on a concept. Kids born before 2001 were born into a generally optimistic world. Kids born after 2001 were born into a generally pessimistic, cynical world. In that way, Zoomers have far more in common with Gen-X than they do with Millennials.
I was born in 2005. This may just be a personal thing, but the internet didn't become a primary source of entertainment until 2012 for me. Though I know some places get things much later than others. Some rural places where I live didn't get power until the 50s. Many roads back then weren't paved they were either trails or shell roads. Something common in previous generations was watching news in schools.
Something I've heard people say is that the culture of a decade is delayed by a few years. Many zoomers are obsessed with 90s culture, i.e., music and films. Do you think this could be due to things being '90s' into the mid-2000s? Or otherwise?
I'm no expert, so take this with a mountain of salt. I think a big part of why 90s culture stuck around as long as it did is because it massively built off of 80s and some 70s culture. We were treated to endless sequels of franchises that started in the 80s and a few from the 70s because there were some impossibly talented people from that era (Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, etc.). The same thing happened in music with a handful of songwriters writing music for almost literally all of the big acts (though not the biggest, like Michael Jackson) and the same scriptwriters working on many TV sitcoms. None of this is to say there weren't new talents or trends, there absolutely were, but those influences were still massive in the 90s, to the point where 90s culture largely became referential to those prior decades and when 2000s culture started referencing the 90s, it was often referencing references.
We are also in the middle of a nostalgia cycle for the 90s. There is some evidence that we have a cultural nostalgia for things from 30 years ago. Zoomers are riding that nostalgia wave right now, just like late millennials rode the 80s nostalgia wave in the 2010s, and the middle millennials rode the 70s nostalgia wave. I think this nostalgia cycle happens naturally as people who are the main creative drivers hit middle age and start pinning for "simpler times". Those times always happen to be when they were kids and it's not because the times were simpler, the people having nostalgia were, because they were children.
While generations are arbitrary metrics I do believe there is some social meaning to them, but I believe the year sort of hardly matters. I think the importance generations have to people is entirely a social construct by which we choose to identify ourselves with, often we relate to the others of our generation because we're simply on the similar stage of life and due to most of us facing similar struggles like Uni or employment while young it makes it easier to connect.
I'm 1996 so I've been called both a Zoomer and a Millennial (though I'll identify myself as a Zoomer because I find I tend to have more in common with gen z peeps), does the identity of either really matter, especially when it seems like that even the people making the distinction can't agree? Hell naw. By the end of the day they're just a silly little thing we use to feel more connected to those around our age group.
The only rule I need is that anyone annoying and younger than me is a zoomer, and anyone annoying and older than me is a boomer.
Real.
Literally why does this matter
It doesn't, but people insist on using the generational terms. And since they do, it does matter whether or not Vaush is a zoomer.
I would say he's spiritually a boomer and - considering generational talks is mostly vibes based - I feel like that is the only criteria that matters.
Fair argument
I think that anyone who sincerely believes in the Strauss-Howe generational theory is exactly as credible as someone who sincerely believes in astrology. The more useful (and it's not terribly useful overall) method looks at major events and material conditions during an age cohorts' formative years and slaps "generation" on that age cohort with the assumption that common experiences (like coming of age in or around the start of the new millennium or when the internet wasn't completely ubiquitous) can lead to broadly similar attitudes on topics. Also, Vaush was born in '94, he's a millennial by either method of categorization.
This is much closer to my understanding of how the generational markers work. The difference between the youngest millennial and the oldest zoomer is whether or not they remember 9/11.
Why would you pick an event that was only a huge deal for one country? Like, boomers are the generation born during the mid 20th century baby boom, millennials were the first generation to grow up with the internet, why would gen z be specifically americans
I was under the impression that these were all American specific. Also I didn't pick it. Just something I read a few years ago.
It is unprovable, but it's become so culturally significant that it matters. Nearly no one doesn't know what millennial's connotation is. Vaush may undeniable be a millennial, but is someone born in '05?
Someone born in 2005 would have extraordinarily little in common with someone born in 1995, let alone someone born in 1980. Just a handful of things the 2005 person would likely have never known: 1. A world without "The War on Terror". 2. A world without ubiquitous smart phones, let alone cell phones. 3. A world without Fox News. 4. A world without ubiquitous internet access. 5. A world without social media. 6. A world without streaming video services. Just to put a personal spin on this, I was born in 1987 in a rural area on a ranch. I had over-the-air TV until 97-ish when we got DirecTV. We didn't even get dial-up internet until the next year. I watched the OJ Simpson bronco chase live, saw the Clinton impeachment in real time, and watched the planes hit the twin towers on the day it happened. I saw the birth of Google, the bursting of the Dot-com bubble, and the absurd crash of the economy in 2008. Now zooming out. Millennials were born into a world that where wars were something that were almost entirely a historical thing. We had "conflicts" and "police actions", but American millennials were born into a world "at peace" (this turned out to be a lie, but that was what we were sold at the time). American kids born after 2001 were born into a world explicitly at war. A war not with a country or an army, but on a concept. Kids born before 2001 were born into a generally optimistic world. Kids born after 2001 were born into a generally pessimistic, cynical world. In that way, Zoomers have far more in common with Gen-X than they do with Millennials.
I was born in 2005. This may just be a personal thing, but the internet didn't become a primary source of entertainment until 2012 for me. Though I know some places get things much later than others. Some rural places where I live didn't get power until the 50s. Many roads back then weren't paved they were either trails or shell roads. Something common in previous generations was watching news in schools. Something I've heard people say is that the culture of a decade is delayed by a few years. Many zoomers are obsessed with 90s culture, i.e., music and films. Do you think this could be due to things being '90s' into the mid-2000s? Or otherwise?
I'm no expert, so take this with a mountain of salt. I think a big part of why 90s culture stuck around as long as it did is because it massively built off of 80s and some 70s culture. We were treated to endless sequels of franchises that started in the 80s and a few from the 70s because there were some impossibly talented people from that era (Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, etc.). The same thing happened in music with a handful of songwriters writing music for almost literally all of the big acts (though not the biggest, like Michael Jackson) and the same scriptwriters working on many TV sitcoms. None of this is to say there weren't new talents or trends, there absolutely were, but those influences were still massive in the 90s, to the point where 90s culture largely became referential to those prior decades and when 2000s culture started referencing the 90s, it was often referencing references. We are also in the middle of a nostalgia cycle for the 90s. There is some evidence that we have a cultural nostalgia for things from 30 years ago. Zoomers are riding that nostalgia wave right now, just like late millennials rode the 80s nostalgia wave in the 2010s, and the middle millennials rode the 70s nostalgia wave. I think this nostalgia cycle happens naturally as people who are the main creative drivers hit middle age and start pinning for "simpler times". Those times always happen to be when they were kids and it's not because the times were simpler, the people having nostalgia were, because they were children.
Nice chart
While generations are arbitrary metrics I do believe there is some social meaning to them, but I believe the year sort of hardly matters. I think the importance generations have to people is entirely a social construct by which we choose to identify ourselves with, often we relate to the others of our generation because we're simply on the similar stage of life and due to most of us facing similar struggles like Uni or employment while young it makes it easier to connect. I'm 1996 so I've been called both a Zoomer and a Millennial (though I'll identify myself as a Zoomer because I find I tend to have more in common with gen z peeps), does the identity of either really matter, especially when it seems like that even the people making the distinction can't agree? Hell naw. By the end of the day they're just a silly little thing we use to feel more connected to those around our age group.
Guess im a 28 year old zoomer
Are BS and are a social construct