Student no: N8278423.
Tutor: Emily Mann
They Say Generation Y Will Save the World
With its Technology. What Defines This Generation
in Today’s Society and How Does it Differentiate
From Gen X?
Cultural Artifact
This cultural artifact depicts how fast the world has changed and is currently changing. Through
this change we can see a generational divide and newer generations advance and excel far beyond any
other before them. I believe this video relays and provides a great understanding behind the
generations introducing this technology and generations that are adapting with this technological
evolution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cfmS6dmfd0&feature=related
Public Health Issue
This video provides evidence of numerous health issues that could arise as more and more
people rely on technology. In this modern era technology seems to penetrate and influence our life
more and more, people seem to be having less and less physical contact with others. This lack of contact
and immersion of technology creates a lack of tangible physical experiences. This alone can and is
damaging the mental health of this generation. Not to mention the lack of physical exercise due to
increased online time. With a busier day and poorer diet technology and the fast food industry has
taken advantage of a busying Generation.
Literature Review
Research shows, the biggest divide facing our society is not a gender divide, racial divide,
income or technology divide but it is the generation divide (Lewis, 2003). Obviously the age or life-stage
of a generation makes them unique to other cohorts. Being young, generation Y have many different
priorities to older generations. Gen Y generally has no financial commitments, thus over 70% of their
income is spent arbitrarily, with the majority going on entertainment, travel, and food (Eisner, 2005).
They have different recreational pursuits to other generations. The point is that people operate in
different ways because of their age. However age is not the sole reason for generational behaviours
otherwise teenagers today would be indistinguishable from teenagers of a generation ago. Yet this is
clearly not the case because life-stage is just one factor that differentiates the generations.
Today gen Y continues to be characterized as a super sized generation X, far larger than any
other generation before it, Gen Y is a very diverse and individualistic generation (Wolburg &
Pokrywczynski, 2001). As stated by Johns (2003) “Members of Gen Y view themselves—although not
other generations—as part of a distinct tribe”.
From this tribal nature, customization is a given. Gen Y’ers grew up expecting to have
things their way—being able to express one’s individuality is considered a fundamental right in
today’s modern world(Allen, 2004). These attitudes help explain why Pew’s research (2007)
found that more than 50 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds have opted for tattoos, piercings, or
non-traditional hair colours.
Much of Gen Y was raised in a time of economic expansion and prosperity. But Gen Y is
coming of age in an era of economic uncertainty and violence. Though it is the most affluent
generation some 16% of Gen Y grew up or is growing up in poverty in its post-Columbine, post9/11, 24-hour media world (Sujansky, 2004). According to Sujansky Gen Y has seen more at an
earlier age than prior generations have ever seen. It is not surprising that Gen Y reflects some
values held by Traditionalists. Like that "greatest generation" trait, Gen Y tends to have a strong
sense of morality, to be patriotic, willing to fight for freedom, is sociable, and values home and
family (Eisner, 2005). It also helps illuminate why Gen Y is significantly less likely than any other
generation to have old-fashioned values on family and marriage. In fact, 60 percent of Gen Y
overall, including 67 percent of Gen Y females, completely disagree with the idea of women
returning to traditional roles (Eisner, 2005). All of this in direct comparison to Gen X. Gen X
grew up to accept diversity, be pragmatic and practical, friends did not equal family, whereas
Gen Y's large size, level of education, and technical skill position it to dominate over gen x. Gen
Y was socialized in a digital world. Far more advanced and is more than technically literate; it is
continually wired, plugged in, and connected to digitally streaming information, entertainment,
and contacts (Eisner, 2005). Lewis states that Gen Y has so mastered technology that
multitasking is nothing less than a habit. A recent also study found Gen Y consuming 31 hours
of media (through multi-tasking) within a 24-hour period, an attribute only to the gen Y clan
(Weiss, 2003).
Social and Cultural Analysis
As seen in the literature above, it is easy to understand how technology and social media
are shaping today’s society. It has been shown that Generation Y seemingly handles far more
content than any other generation before them (Weiss, 2003). This technological age will have huge
repercussions on society and Generations to come.
As the visual artifact displays, technology has boomed and will continue to boom. However,
this evolutionary advancement has come at a large cost though. With less physical interaction
mental health issues have become more prevalent along with the obesity crisis and the fast food
chains dominating.
Evidence is quite clear that technology has indeed affected this generation. In many ways
creating health issues i.e., the obesity crisis and lack of social interaction. On the other hand
research also shows that technology has also provided a basis for awareness. Gen Y’ers have
become extremely picky when it comes to large companies and look for companies who are socially
responsible, eco friendly and providing a work / life balance for employees (Trunk, 2007).
Generation Y is concerned about the world and the impact society has upon it (McGinnis, 2011).
These issues are extremely important as they affect future generations through a ripple
effect. We have this technological advance and as the Visual artifact mentioned 4 Exabyte’s of
unique Information will be generated this year alone. That is more than the previous 5,000 years
together (GeoEnable, 2010).
We are moving so fast forward it almost seems like we are neglecting our basic health
concerns. Perhaps we need look at re-education / educating people about food, the benefits of
food and exercise. Last thing we want is a generation of kids raising kids. Technology, 4 steps
forward, the health of a generation 2 steps backward.
Analysis of the Cultural Artifact
The visual artifact chosen to represent this material illustrates technical advance
perfectly. It really makes you realise how powerful and intelligent these generations are. The
figures displayed also relay that people are not afraid of change in this modern era. We seek
change until we get what we want. The generation of ‘I can’. With a major prevalence towards
Social media and the speed at which this niche is growing. It is mind blowing thinking about the
fact that in 1 week of Times newspapers there is more information than one person would
experience in a lifetime in the 18th Century and that in one year we can produce more ‘unique
information’ than that has been produced in the past 5000 years.
This generation has learnt so much through technological tools such as the internet,
where would we be without it? It also really makes you wonder if we would be better with or
without it. The big question is, what’s next?
References
Allen, P. (2004, September). Welcoming Y. Benefits Canada, 28(9), 51(3).
Eisner, S. P. (2005). Managing generation Y. S.A.M.Advanced Management Journal,
70(4), 4-4-15. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231242493
Johns, K. (2003, April 11). Managing generational diversity in the workforce. Trends &
Tidbits. Retrieved on October 10, 2004, from http://www.workindex.com
Lewis, K. R. (2003, November 3). Managing multiple generations in the workplace can be
a challenge.
Newhouse News Service.
McGinnis, J. (2011). “The young and the restless: Generation Y in the nonprofit
workforce.” Public administration quarterly, 35(3), p.342.
Pew Research Centre for the People & the Press. (2007). How young people view their
lives, futures and politics: A portrait of “Generation Next.”. Washington, D.C.
Sujansky, J. (2004, April). Leading a multi-generational workforce. Occupational Health
and Safety, 73(4),
1618.
Trunk, P. (2007). What Gen Y really wants. Time Magazine: Business
Weiss, M. J. (2003, September 1). To be about to be (Generation Y ). American
Demographics, 25(7).
Wolburg, J. M., & Pokrywczynski, J. (2001). A Psychographic Analysis of Generation Y
College Students. Journal of Advertising Research, 41(5), 33-52. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.