Generation Y…. we’re just awesome!…

Sarah West, the creator of the network “I am Generation Y“, selected me as the Gen-Yer of the week (woo hoo!). I must admit, I signed up to Gen-Y initially, but never quite did anything beyond that… sometimes I guess you need a kick to begin making a contribution… how ’bout I start right here and now!

So first of all…. who belongs to generation-Y? Well, it was a term given to those born between 1989 – 1994 – kinda the period when there was a boom in the number of births happening globally. The original term was given to people born in the late 70′s. That however, is the “literal” meaning. Socially speaking… who are Generation Y?

Generation X was the rebel culture which kicked off in the 80′s and early 90′s where certain genres of music defined the social culture of the time. Although it was/is a strong movement, it wasn’t one for the masses. Socially speaking, Generation Y possibly supercedes them. Generation Y is that generation of late teens, people in their 20′s and 30′s who have been constantly and consistently influenced by trends, events, and technology through the ages.

All of you guys reading this post today… yah – you are all part of Gen-Y! Gen-Y is strongly influenced by social networking, media and marketing, and I’ll push it to the limits of political movements. I think the orange Revolution in Ukraine, Red and Yellow in Thailand, and the Green in Iran, all had a common factor – they all used some level of media to pursue their cause.

So as a member of this generation, what are our responsibilities? Well, our responsibility is to raise the bar in our modes of participation and communication. No, I don’t expect a whole marketing campaign trying to sell anything! What we do need to do is connect with the world effectively and ethically. Generation-Y controls technology like no other era ever has. We control the power to show the truth. We control the power to report what has always been ignored. We control the power to highlight the innovations which would have previously stayed covered up.

Over-reactions when your twitter app breaks down, or Facebook stops working… you know what? That is OK! Why? Well, because at THAT level, we are being productive in spreading the word. If you think my comment is too extreme…. well just look around you – every media organization is trying to push itself via blogs, twitter, Facebook or some other minor social network. People from every corner of the globe are connecting via a medium which CANNOT collapse; this medium was created by OUR generation!

The creators of Google, WordPress, Twitter and Facebook (to name a few)? Larry Page (36), Sergey Brin (35), Matt Mullenweg (25), Jack Dorsey (32) and Mark Zuckerberg (25)… they are one of us!

If you are reading this line, then you have reached the end of the post… and if you were not part of it before – YOU are officially Generation-Y – and YOU are AWESOME!

Live it!

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