Millennials vs. Gen-Z…vs. *Zillennials*
Born somewhere between 1993 and 2001? This one’s for you!
This is not the first time and neither will it be the last time that there’s an intergenerational debate on whether the previous generation is superior or inferior compared to the new one. This is a very common debate that’s usually fueled by experience gaps between the generations owing to advancements in science and technology which ultimately leads to a social disconnect between generations. But with the invention of the Internet and the advent of Social Media in the beginning of the 2000s, this process accelerated exponentially leading to an even wider chasm when it came to bridging the difference in experiences pre and post-Tech boom. And I believe this has given rise to newer and smaller demographics of the population in the middle- the people who exist on the border of previously classified generations AKA Microgenerations.
Today, the ongoing competition to determine the better generation is for most part fueled by social media such as TikTok: “Gen-Z or Millennials?” In fact, there are a list of things that help distinguish a person of one generation from the other without even knowing their actual date of birth or who they really are, including:
- Emoji Usage (Millenials using 😂 vs Gen-Z using 😭 for the same purposes)
- Hair Parting (the Side Part is popular among Millenials vs the Middle Part being embraced by Gen-Z)
- Pant Fit (Millennials swearing by Skinny Jeans vs Gen-Z widely favoring loose-fit Baggy pants)
- Preferred Social Media Platform (Making posts and stories on a private Instagram/Facebook profile for Millennials vs doomscrolling and oversharing on a very public TikTok platform for Gen-Z)
What about the above-mentioned “newer and smaller demographic”? Who are they and what are we calling them? I’m specifically talking about the kids who watched the first iPhone launch while still playing ‘Snake’ on their Nokia with buttons, the ones who lived a life before YouTube and Spotify to find music and lyrics to songs they heard on the radio, the ones who understand why the symbol for a phone today is a landline receiver and not a rectangular slab (like a smartphone). This was the generation that was old enough to easily understand, adapt and appreciate the evolution from an analogue to a digital world. Existing on the border between Millennials and Gen-Z are the Zillennials who struggle to pick sides and here’s our story.
Born in the mid-late 90s just as the internet movement was truly starting to take off and coming into mainstream consumption, the youth born (roughly) between 1995–2001 are the most uniquely positioned group of individuals that got to understand, utilise and experience older inventions (like the floppy, dial-up internet and corded landlines) only to very soon adapt, learn and adjust to more nascent technologies due to the Internet Revolution of the 2000s/2010s. In a way, this group which was mostly underaged played lab rats (more commonly known as Beta Testers these days) for the rapid evolution of Internet products and Social Media Platforms. They got to personally experience the good, bad and ugly at a young age before anyone could really wrap their heads around these innovations and their longer lasting impacts.
Be it the downsides such as exposure to unmoderated content, being cyberbullied, falling prey to internet scams and frauds, or positives like the ability to pay bills online, collaborate real time across the globe and post entire photo albums to one’s Facebook feed, this microgeneration got to experience the unfiltered Internet Revolution first AND firsthand. This microgeneration played a key role in shaping etiquette, practices, rules, expectations and standards of usage for Internet products and Social Media platforms for years to come- something they barely get credit for.
Unfortunately, this demographic is overlooked often and gets clubbed with Gen-Z or Millennials. While there are people in this demographic that have more Gen-Z or Millennial tendencies, this is the generation that has learnt to play social chameleon depending on their audience. I believe this microgeneration requires its own category of classification, greater appreciation for their candidness earlier on in the internet and credit for unknowingly signing up to be internet guinea pigs.
Being one of the first generations to be raised (on and) by the internet was an exhilarating experience filled with high highs and low lows that had an impact which I think we still don’t fully understand. But one thing I personally believe it did do for our generation was give us the tendency to be more grounded, less polarized and the ability to assess and navigate situations more objectively compared to our Millennial or Gen-Z counterparts. I often notice (and appreciate) Zillennials’ ability to hold space for differences in opinions and other people’s capabilities to evolve and grow while still sticking by and staying true to the personal values they believe in- a quality that’s much needed in today’s society that seems to always be extremely polarized, aggressively divided and quick to cancel or dismiss opinions they don’t fully agree with. More importantly I believe that this microgeneration plays a very important role in bridging the gap and mediating communication between the younger and older generations. Regardless of the kind of issue we’re solving for today, be it political, environmental, social or scientific, the landscape of discourse around these problems is one that’s filled with countless echo chambers. We’ve also established that internet/social media algorithms are only furthering this seclusion for most part.
In a world that’s polarized on fundamental topics that determine the survival of humanity, I think it might help to take notes from Zillennials on how they navigate widely opinionated spaces and reconcile with reality/facts to arrive at an actionable consensus or the middle path. I have so much more to say about Zillennials and why I think we should pay more heed to this microgeneration in specific. For now, I will end this here by saying that I’m obviously not biased at all, but…in my opinion the Zillennials are the best generation 🤷🏽♀️
