Millennials

About

Millennials is the term coined for the generation between Generation X and Generation Z, generally understood to be born between the early 80s and early 2000s.

History

The term "Millennials" was coined by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe in 1987, who suggested Millennials are people born between 1982 and 2004.^[1] The idea was that people born in 1982 would be graduating high school in 2000, and the name was connected to these people shaping the new millennium. Though the term competed with Generation Y, a term coined by Ad Age, Ad Age conceded in 2012 that Millennials was a better name.

Characteristics

Narcissism and Entitlement

Strauss and Howe predicted that Millennials would have a "strong sense of community both local and global."^[2] However, further research by Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me, found in Millennials a sense of narcissism and entitlement in addition to confidence and tolerance. The University of Michigan found that Millennials placed more importance on wealth and less importance on political affairs, environmental cleanup, and finding a deep philosophy for meaning in life. Other theorists suggested the generation was one of "Trophy Kids," echoing an idea that Millennials were conditioned to expect rewards merely by existing rather than working for them. These traits, however, were critiqued as only being applicable to suburban white children who grew up in families with "helicopter parents" that placed a special emphasis on how special their children were, and that this was not applicable to minority families.

Political Views

Millennials have been found to have more liberal values socially and culturally than their ancestors, and are more likely to support same-sex marriage and drug legalization and oppose testing on animals. In elections, they have been found to support the left wing, such as when, during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, they overwhelmingly supported Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders over eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump. In the United Kingdom, there were strongly opposed to Brexit.

Millennials have also drawn controversy for their increased awareness of political correctness, particularly their awareness of microaggressions and their insistence on trigger warnings and safe spaces in academic settings.

Online Presence

Because they grew up with modern technology, Millennials have shaped the internet as we see it today. They have brought the advent of social media and selfies, which critics have called an extension of Millennial narcissism. They are also the target demographic for major online publications like Buzzfeed, Mashable, Upworthy, and more which have drawn major criticism for the spread of Clickbait journalism. They are also responsible for the 90s Nostalgia popular online as 90s pop culture was prominent when millennials were kids.

Criticism

The Boomer generation has been very vocal about criticizing Millennials; there have been hundreds of think pieces and op-ed columns criticizing Millennials for being "entitled," "lazy" and "narcissistic," among many other reasons. Millennials have responded by criticizing Boomers for ruining the economy, leaving Millennials with the highest rates of student loan debt and unemployment in the modern era.

Related Memes

Old Economy Steven

Old Economy Steven is an advice animal image macro series featuring a vintage studio portrait of a young man dressed in a blue collared shirt with a 1970s-style long haircut. The captions typically depict the man as being out-of-touch with the frustrations and struggles faced by the Millennials in the 21st century economic climate, including dealing with student loans, unemployment and rising housing costs.

#FollowATeen

#FollowATeen is a Twitter hashtag associated with a practical joke that involves following a random teenager of the Millennial generation on the microblogging site and covertly tweeting about his or her daily updates.

Time Magazine Cover: ME ME Me Generation

Time Magazine Cover: Me Me Me Generation was the cover of the May 2013 issue of Time Magazine featuring a photograph of a young woman holding an iPhone, which inspired many photoshopped variations mocking the cover’s premise.

"Millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents. Why they’ll save us all.”

How To Confuse a Millennial

#HowToConfuseAMillennial is a hashtag that was originally created by Boomers and Generation X-ers to mock Millennials but was quickly overrun by Millennial Twitter users mocking how their ancestors are out of touch with the Millennial generation.

Millennials Are Killing X

"Millennials Are Killing…" is a phrasal template used to mock various think-pieces and op-ed articles on the changing consumer habits of the Millennial generation and their allegedly negative impact on major industries and economic sectors that had once thrived during the latter half of the 20th century.

The Millennial Whoop

The Millennial Whoop is a neologism referring to any sequence of notes alternating between the 5th and 3rd notes on a major scale, which are often heard during vocal segments in a variety of contemporary pop songs.

"Avocado Toast" Article

On May 15th, 2017, Australian website 9news^[3] ran an article recapping a 60 Minutes episode in which millionaire property mogul Tim Gurner said “When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn't buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each.” Gurner was attempting to make the point that millennials spend too lavishly to afford a home, while older generations saved money in order to invest in a home. However, the quote about avocado became a subject of derision as it became the focus of dialogue around Gurner's comments. TIME^[4] tweeted an article that claimed Gurner stated "Stop buying avocado toast if you want to buy a home."

This understanding of Gurner's comments led to jokes on Twitter painting the idea as massively out-of-touch with the economy. The jokes were covered by Mediaite^[5] and Time.^[6]

Search Interest

External References