It seems like every other week, we see articles, blog posts and other observations about Gen Y. And usually, they are written by people who aren’t even a part of the generation. It always makes me cringe to read these, especially when they try and offer “advice” for managing people in my demographic.
As I have spent essentially my entire life watching/studying this demographic as an observer and participant, I thought I’d be able to give you some qualitative analysis that would be more interesting than what people outside of the age group can provide. After all, do you really think a younger generation behaves in their true form around an older generation?
Here’s my observations that may run counter to what you read by those in older generations:
Digital natives are a myth
If you define digital natives as the group of people that grew up using technology, yes that exists and would be Gen Y. However this is an altogether meaningless term, most of Gen Y is as inept with technology as the older generation.
I’ve spent as much time fixing systems/networks of people my own age as I have those who are older. Growing up with technology and using it is not an indicator of ability to successfully manipulate it on anything more than a superficial level. For the average person, age has nothing to do with literacy in using technology efficiently. Fight me on this if you want, but being known as the IT geek I have helped more than a statistically relevant number of people with their computer/network issues and the truth is age is a meaningless factor in correctly using technology or using tech in creative ways for business solutions.
Going further – yes, most of Gen Y grew up using the social web and followed it along from Prodigy/AOL to Facebook and MySpace. But these networks require no special skills to use. In fact anyone can use them, which is why they are so popular. The people that go further and develop their own web properties or build an audience for influence, attention or monetization has nothing to do with age, and if you look across the board it is made up people that span demographics. I notice nothing special in particular with people in Gen Y on the whole with digital technology compared to any generation. It depends more on those passionate enough and interested enough to learn how to use the tools effectively than age. Geeks (of any age) are the new influencers and programming is the new literacy.
Gen Y is no lazier than any other generation
A lot of people love to label Gen Y as “lazy.” This is nonsense, as there are lazy people across demographics. Most humans across generations, especially in America, squander a majority of free time daily with mindless entertainment. This is not a generational issue, this is a cultural issue. In my view, nearly everyone in our country suffers from mental sloth and it can’t be pigeon-holed to one generation. Nearly everyone watches TV in their free time…enough said.
Generation Y is no more or less intelligent than any other living generation
Again, I see no difference between the intelligence levels of those in other generations and Gen Y. True intelligence, creativity and motivation for life is rare across demographics. I’ve read countless great books, listened to countless amazing artists and read plenty of thought provoking blogs and age is not a factor for defining those talented and motivated enough to create these things. Our species doesn’t evolve fast enough for there to be statistically any significant difference in raw intelligence levels between any of the generations that are currently alive. Anyone declaring Gen Y the dumbest generation is being sensationalist for the sake of getting attention and generating controversy.
Gen Y is more connected than previous generations
An overwhelming majority of Gen Y does use social networking. As I have written previously, Facebook and MySpace are the modern AOL and Prodigy. Gen Y has been connected from a young age and continues to stay connected. We’re friends with all our old high school and college friends on Facebook and able to follow their progress throughout life. This is something altogether new to society – a constant connectivity with those from our past.
Gen Y on the whole is just as open to manipulation as previous generations when it comes to religion
Religion appears to have infected another generation, even though 93 percent of NAS scientists do not profess a belief in God (72.2 percent disbelief, 20.8 agnostic). However, thanks to the web, freedom of information and vocal intellectuals such as Richard Dawkins, science and logic are beginning to spread into the population. Gen Y has also grown up witnessing the negativity, death and destruction caused by religion – perhaps this will lead to less of Gen Y passing it on to their children. Future civilizations of our planet will look back at our religious beliefs as quaint and at a detriment to science, truth, logic and progress (a bit of opinion: religion is a relic of a pre-science civilization). Clearly religion is one of the best examples of an ideavirus, and it is worthwhile to study the marketing lessons to learn from religion.
Generation Y marks the death of the mass-scale celebrity/influencer
Something the web and tools like blogs, YouTube, Facebook, etc. have enabled is the ability for us to publicly document our own lives. And with this ability, we have realized rather quickly it is more interesting to follow the lives of people we actually know than nebulous celebrities. This is creating a long tail of attention for people spread amongst the masses, creating many micro-celebrities among peer groups and niches, spreading the power of influence and attention across society.
Gen Y is colorblind, race blind and open to all lifestyle choices
On the whole, Gen Y doesn’t segregate human beings the way previous generations do. We don’t view the world in races or colors and we don’t judge people based on lifestyle choices and try and tell them what they can and cannot do. Despite the backwards decisions of our current society, in the not-so-distant future when everyone is given the same set of rights, we will look back on today the same way we currently look back at a generation which gave people rights based purely on color.
Gen Y doesn’t trust government
Rightfully so, Gen Y doesn’t trust government – we have grown up witnessing repeated failures by an obviously broken system. It is clear the people in power are propping up old models, hindering innovation with broken patent systems and litigation, and easily manipulated by lobbyists. It will be interesting to see if when Gen Y is in power they do things differently than the failures of the previous generations.
Gen Y is numb to mass advertising
We grew up in a world with a constant onslaught of advertising and media messages. We’ve simply learned to tune them out and don’t buy into messages that come directly from companies we don’t trust and that haven’t built a relationship with us. Permission marketing, on the other hard, works wonderfully.
Creative Gen Y’ers enjoy vibrant, forward-thinking music/art culture
But it isn’t in the mainstream eye. I have heard more amazing music created by people in my generation than anything the world has witnessed (imo). But just like in previous years the popular artists of today are cheesy, trite and boring choices. Just because it isn’t on a major label or isn’t inside theaters doesn’t mean it isn’t far more innovative art. Go listen to Ulrich Schnauss, go listen to Autechre, go listen to Sound Tribe Sector 9. It’s unlike anything you’ve heard, and it’s the next generation of art music, the music creative people in our generation enjoy. Since when does popular culture have taste in music anyway?
Conclusion
These are observations I’ve formed from viewing the world from what I believe is a neutral lens, one shaped by logic and not manipulated by any single person or belief system. Rather, I take a hybrid approach to viewing the world by studying facts, mixing in experience, being a well-read individual, and in my free time being a student of sociology and psychology.
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The Future Buzz is a blog run by communications professional Adam Singer. Adam has experience as both a digital PR strategist and online marketing manager for some of the top-rated brands globally
Tara Joyce (1 comments)2 January 09
Finally some accurate observations about Gen Y. Thank you. From one Gen Y to another.
I especially liked how you highlighted that just because Gen Y grew up using new media does not mean they are skilled in utilizing or working professionally in it.
I am the only professional web geek I know. My fellow Gen Y friends have little to none of the web wisdom I hold. Being skilled in its use takes time and understanding and is massive knowledge undertaking. Thank you for not reducing its value or difficulty like so many other reports on “Gen Y”.
Tara Joyce
Adam Singer (269 comments)2 January 09
@Tara – thanks, glad you enjoyed this. I believe others trying to reduce the value of an upcoming generation is probably an attempt at self-preservation of their generation.
paul merrill (5 comments)2 January 09
Hi Adam. Glad you found my blog. I’m glad I found yours!
I appreciated your insiders analysis of Gen Y. You hit the nail on the head, in the vast majority of what you said. One small point I’d take issue with is the digital natives section – Gen Y works much more easily in that area than some other generations. An example would be my mom – almost 80 now. She is scared of computers and refuses to even let her kids buy her one. My wife’s dad got rid of his computer, as it was just too hard for him to even do the basics.
You ARE right about how usability is so bad in many areas of the digital realm that it causes ANY generation problems. (I went to all iPods for our family because the interface of every other brand I tried was so bad that it wasn’t worth the $ I saved in getting a similar model to the Apple.)
Anyhow, thanks for your thoughtful site. I’ll be back, for sure!
Tim Jahn (60 comments)2 January 09
Right on the head, Adam, right on the head.
Agreed on all counts except for the celebrities. From my experience, there are still celebrity crazed people out there (our age) and they don’t seem to be slowing down.
Great post!
Yael K. Miller (2 comments)2 January 09
Again, I disagree with a number of your statements.
I haven’t seen the label “lazy” applied, I usually see “entitled.” Nothing makes me see red faster than the “entitled” label. Odd that you think America is lazy, you should check out Europe’s work schedule.
“Gen Y doesn’t trust government.” I’m not so sure about this one. These days not many people trust or are happy with the government. Furthermore, across time younger people feel disassociated with their government. As my dad loves to quote George Bernard Shaw: “If a man isn’t a communist when he’s 18 he has no heart, if he’s still a communist at 21 he has no brain.”
All I have to say to “Gen Y is colorblind, race blind and open to all lifestyle choices” is PROVE IT.
Again “Creative Gen Y’ers enjoy vibrant, forward-thinking music/art culture” seems to me to be a self-referential statement.
The best line and so true — I back you 100% percent on this: “Going further – yes, most of Gen Y grew up using the social web and followed it along from Prodigy/AOL to Facebook and MySpace. But these networks require no special skills to use. In fact anyone can use them, which is why they are so popular.”
Adam Singer (269 comments)2 January 09
@Yael – I have seen the lazy label applied frequently, used along with entitlement. I’m glad that you don’t notice it though, perhaps it isn’t as prevalent an idea as I thought.
I would say anecdotally I never noticed any of my peers during high school or college, or anyone at different colleges I visited holding the same attitudes about race and lifestyle choice as the older generation. Go talk to any Gen Y’er in real life and I am sure you will notice similar, open mind about these things. I know this is all qualitative but I have witnessed time and time again an overwhelming openness about this when compared with previous generations. I say all of this from experience. I also have friends across social circles and demographics, so I think I have a good mix of people as a research base. Not a single one of them is racist, homophobic, or holds any of the backwards mentality of the previous generations. Hopefully this is representative of our generation as a whole.
Again, I wrote this piece from my personal observations, you may not see it the same way which is fine, I am writing it from the perspective of someone living with this generation as my peer group.
Thanks for the comment, appreciate you taking the time to write.
Cassandra (3 comments)2 January 09
As much as all of us Gen Y-ers know this stuff already, it’s refreshing to see someone trying to debunk the myths spread around about us by older generations.
I agree with most of what you said, but I have to take issue with this statement: “Gen Y is colorblind, race blind and open to all lifestyle choices”
Although we will have to wait until the last of Generation Y becomes old enough to vote to see how true either of our opinions are, I don’t believe all of Gen Y is colourblind, race blind or open to all lifestyle choices.
We are still influenced by our parents, our religious leaders (if we have them), our government’s laws, etc. Many of us are extremely open-minded, but there are still plenty of people out there from our generation who are against standard equalities such as same-sex marriage, a non-white president-elect, or even a female presidential or vice-presidential candidate. There’s still a lot of work to be done in these areas.
However, I hope that if there are so many of us out there who value the idea of not holding anyone back based on their skin colour, ethnic background, sexuality, gender, etc. that it will eventually become the status quo and be represented in our society as a whole.
Rob O. (10 comments)2 January 09
From the Gen X perspective, I don’t think Gen Y folks are lazy, but their motivations seem – generally speaking – to be far more self-centered. And a great many of the Gen Y folks I’ve encountered do bear an air of entitlement. Often, they roll in the door with their fresh MBA and no experience with an attitude of “Well, I’m here. What are YOU going to do for ME?”
I know this certainly doesn’t apply to all – and maybe these perceptions are more pronounced in the IT field – but more often than not, Gen Y people do fit many of the stereotypes. I should note, however, that I also work with a couple of Gen Yers who broke the mold – they’re extremely dedicated, driven, and a whole lot of fun to work with!
Part of this is just a maturity thing too. A Gen Y employee will jump ship for an extra $0.47 per hour, with nary a fleeting thought about benefits or other less-tangible elements of employment. Also, Gen Y people place much, much less value on the number of years served. For a Gen Xer like myself, having logged 16 very productive years at a single company is a source of pride. A Gen Yer will typically look at that as almost pathetic – like a stagnant disease rather than an accomplishment.
Of course, I’m also aware of some of the nasty stereotypes of Gen X and I actively try to avoid living up to those…
Cassandra (3 comments)2 January 09
I should have added to my comment that if we are susceptible to religion, then we are just as susceptible to falling into the trappings of racism, homophobia, transphobia and sexism – which are sometimes encouraged through organized religion, a dominant cultural force especially in the U.S. right now.
David Fallarme (1 comments)2 January 09
Cool post. Really well written. As a fellow Gen Y blogger, I find it interesting that we are almost opposite on two main points:
1. Digital Natives
I think we ARE more adept at dealing with technology (http://www.themarketingstudent.com/2008/06/12/not-part-of-gen-y-youre-paying-too-much/) . There’s a widespread, common comfort with technology that I haven’t seen with older generations. If you put a Gen Y vs a Gen X/Boomer in front of a new technology, the Gen Y will either take more risks with it or figure it out first.
2. Mass Advertising
Just because we grew up with advertising does not mean we’re numb to it (http://www.themarketingstudent.com/2008/04/12/on-second-thought-gen-y-is-not-marketing-savvy/). We’re definitely better at sniffing out fakes and overt commercial appeals to our emotions, but that doesn’t mean we don’t respond to traditional marketing. We spend money more freely than other generations.
3. Colorblind
I wholeheartedly agree that we’re more tolerant and accepting than other generations. To say we’re colorblind…that can only apply to large urban centres, or on TV shows. Until the world is so blended that we’re racially indistinguishable like Jessica Alba or The Rock, we’ll still have our biases.
Great post, Adam! Much thanks for the food for thought!
Derrick Kwa (1 comments)3 January 09
The one thing I want to disagree with is the “digital natives” point. Agree with David on this. I think being a “digital native” isn’t as much about the technical aspects of the systems, etc (the more “geeky” parts, if you will). It’s about making use of the tools, and the tools being a part of their lives. It’s a mindset and lifestyle, more than anything. I do think that our generation (Gen Y), are more open to these technologies, and the way we interact with these new systems are different. It’s not about the special skills of “geekiness”, it’s about lifestyle.
John Welsh (1 comments)4 January 09
I work for a big media company and I can tell you that neither youth nor age have an immunity from being laggards as we rush into our digital future. Some of those with more experience and age can move really quickly. Some of those straight of college can be the hardest to get moving. It is not generation this or generation that which matters. So I like your post.
Adam Singer (269 comments)4 January 09
@John – agreed 100% – age is meaningless, motivation and drive are everything.
Andrea G (1 comments)4 January 09
I think one of the most frustrating things about belonging to Generation Y is that it lacks “definition” because it’s still in it’s developmental process. If you do a Google search for it, there’s not a lot out there. Luckily we’re finally getting old enough to stand up for ourselves and have a voice in the generational wars. This is such a great post! I just started a blog on the childhood memories of Generation Y so check it out fellow Gen Y-ers: http://www.theYkid.com. We’re looking for guest posters!
JoshMiller (1 comments)5 January 09
Certainly a good list of observations and definitely true for the most part. I do disagree a bit on the part about evolution not fast enough for major changes. It’s not necessarily straight physical human evolution but technology and society i screaming a long and I for see some rather huge changes for world culture on the whole especially over the next 50-100 years. This isn’t necessarily a direct Gen Y thing but Gen Y and some of the mindset shifts you mentioned are the foundation and start. Specifically the points about religion and government.
Adam Singer (269 comments)5 January 09
Thank you everyone for some great insights, I appreciate all your thoughts. Good material here for a potential follow-up on this subject.
Soilman (1 comments)6 January 09
Adam hi
Very interesting post. Couldn’t agree more with almost everything you say on the topic. Just two bitter and twisted observations from a bitter and twisted 40-year-old:
**It will be interesting to see if when Gen Y is in power they do things differently than the failures of the previous generations**
They/you won’t. We all hate government and reject it as youngsters. Then we grow up and find our own generation ruling things just the way the oldsters did. It’s one of the great tragedies of the human experience.
**We grew up in a world with a constant onslaught of advertising and media messages. We’ve simply learned to tune them out**
You’re not the first generation to experience this. Unfortunately. It’s true of anyone who grew up with a TV in the living room… which in the US means anyone born after about 1950. I don’t believe Gen Y has any special ‘new’ experience or response to demonstrate here.
Adam Singer (269 comments)6 January 09
@Soilman – We’ll see if the web will play a role in changing things up for the future. I am hopeful for that.
Natalie K (1 comments)5 April 09
Adam, I have appreciated this post more than anything else I’ve read lately. I am currently doing a thesis project on Generation Y and have found my research to be discouraging and inaccurate; not matching what I see in our generation every day. I become so frustrated with Baby Boomers and Generation X’ers not taking the time to get to know and understand us, but writing as if they understand us completely. I feel like one of the best examples of this is the popular book called “The Dumbest Generation.” I feel like they tend to look back on their own generations with rose-colored glasses, watching us experience the same problems they had, but believing that we are the first to behave in those ways. There are positives and negatives within any group of people. But anyway, I just wanted to let you know that this was refreshing and encouraging– thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Brandon (1 comments)21 May 09
I agreed with most of your debunking, though being at the forefront of Gen Y, I’d disagree with you on the digital native argument. Are Gen Yers more skilled at things? No, if you mean programming and much things like that. However, on average I’d say a Gen Yer is more adept at using technology (Average). It still boggles my mind how someone not too much older than me can frustrate me with simple things using Microsoft Windows. Remember, we’re the first using a Computer to write a Book Report.
As to trusting the government, I agree with that. Though I believe we are more civic minded and along with the entitlment feeling, desire to change it.
We’ll see though.
GenXer (1 comments)20 July 09
Well, it was the boomers & Xers who created computers, then they created the internet, the boomers went to the moon, they developed the aircraft and jet engines. They even created the Generation Y.
OK Gen Yers lets see if you can create more. Then after that we can talk about who is who. But for now, WE are the champions and the masters and you’ll do what we say, in fact you buy all the junk we make, don’t you? Why? Because you follow our orders, that’s why.
We created your cell phones and the rest. In fact we created the whole bloody world of junk and infrastructure that gives the gen-Yers their kick.
GenY has potential (1 comments)26 October 09
I always find it strange when GenY-ers talk about music, the first two bands you listed are GenX kids (not sure about the last). Sure GenY might love the music coming out, but to claim them as your own?
I’ll say that GenY loves culture, that is for sure. Here is hoping you guys make some beautiful things in the years to come. But GenX did such a wonderful job with the tools we had at hand, so much creativity and innovation. That is what I love the most.
Christian (2 comments)23 December 09
Someone who finally understands us >_> Thanks! From one Gen. Y to another. *cheers*
Sheema (1 comments)7 January 10
Fantastic post- it’s nice to see someone hit the nail on the head. The only point I would disagree on is the celebrity one- I think our generation is pretty susceptible to getting caught up in all of that. If anything, with the rise of reality shows, we’ve realized how easy it is to get your 15 minutes of fame. The Jersey Shore proves this!
Ian Gotts (1 comments)8 January 10
I’m not GenY, but I hire GenYs. There are a LOAD of us out here who need to understand how you think, work, act and how to get eh best out of you. Hence I’m writing a book aimed at PLU (people like us)/Boomers giving a perspective on Gen Y. I’m wiring it jointly with Heledd Straker for http://www.nakedgenerations.com as she IS a GenY. If anyone ois interested in contributing/reviewing let me kwow
Maxine Martinez (1 comments)7 February 10
Dear author of this blog,
I came across this blog while googling Generation Y for my major work in Art. Can I just say that this is going to help me not only develop my concept, which is the exploration of Generation Y culture but also help me broaden my understanding of my own Generation. So, thanks so much for putting this up !!!