Depending who you ask, there are roughly 79 million Baby Boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) in the United States. The first of them became eligible for Social Security two years ago. There are only 51 million members of Gen X (people born between 1965 and 1976). However, there are 75 million “Millenials” (1977 – 1998).
Boomers and Millenials outnumber Gen X by around 47 percent each.
I don’t want to argue too much about the lines between generations [I'm usually more comfortable with starting the Millenials around 1982, since those are the kids who were using early AOL while they were in high school]; instead, I wanted every one to really look at these numbers. I’ve been chewing on them since I came across the stats about two weeks ago.
Those of you who know me personally will know that I’m usually a late adopter of social media technology in particular: I like my privacy and I’m afraid of living in Huxley’s Brave New World. Moreover, I don’t own a television, I don’t approve of driving-thru, and I like my books made of paper, not screens.
But these statistics really caught me. The group of people in power right now–and by that I mean mid 30s to 50s, because they’re arguably, on the aggregate, “established” and experienced–are outnumbered by both their parents and the generation on their tails. They’re charged with caring for their aging parents and educating a legion of younger people whose social/technological landscape is entirely different than their own. While they’re doing so, they’re responsible for being the primary players in rescuing the United States from an enormous ecological disaster and overwhelming economic crisis.
Plus they need to figure out how to buy that rascally 44% of our economy back from China and Japan.
This sort of high-responsibility and high-stress situation conjures up all sorts of NYC-grounded images for me: people on walkie-talkies herding government officials into the UN, publicists on headsets executing high-stakes fashion week shows, CEOs with cell phones held up to each ear.
And that’s just it: it’s all about communication. Which means, and I hate to say it, maybe it really is all about harnessing social media for social good. Maybe the timely advent of social media (Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, whatever-it-is-next-week) is a boon to keeping Gen X connected, directed, and efficient–and to clarifying their conversation with Millenials.
They’re famously very different groups of people with different values.
A number of groups/people have already been using social media for change: Charity Water, Twestival, 12 for 12K. I know I’m not inventing some new idea here. I’m actually interested in looking beyond charity (not foregoing it) at how social media can be strategically used to drive our culture and educational systems. I think understanding the context in which we’re operating, with a generation largely outnumbered on both ends, is a great springboard for talking about a new, redefined sense of purpose and direction, both for social media tools and for American society and culture at large.
What do these numbers mean to you?
Elizabeth King
(c) Ana Schechter
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It means, as usual, my generation will be shouldering an unfair burden of responsibility while being dismissed as “lacking vision and initiative” by our bookend generations.
It means we’ll do what we’ve always done: quietly, pragmatically just deal with the hand we’re dealt to the best of our ability.
And like you, I think they’re skewing Millenials a little old. I would have gone with starting in 1980, but I’d agree with your assessment of 1982 more than 1977. Of course, then again, my youngest sister (born in 1978) seems to be one of those “hybrids” who has qualities of both Gen X and Millenial.
As much as I resent the baby boomers for their long term domination of the American cultural narrative, I’m even more irked by Generation X’ers in their late 30s and early-to-mid 40s who, at this age, still blame Baby Boomers for their problems. I see it particularly in music coverage; the main problem with that generation, IMO, is that they underestimated their own strength.
That being said, it will be interesting to see how the “graying of America” affects culture in the next 30-40 years (which is true, even if the “60 is the new 40″ line is another Baby Boomer myth that smart Baby Boomers can see right through). It’s certainly in part to blame for how Millenials out of college are struggling for employment as we speak.
Here is my take on the way Gen X’ers connect and can share via the new ‘tools’ at our fingertips. For a while the world became disconnected due to the power of the internet. You could shop, pay bills and conduct most of your daily activities online. The ‘burden’, as you call it, can be eased by realizing the ‘good’ of these tools is in the power to connect offline. IRL (In Real Life) Thats how we grew up…local hardware stores, local grocers… we became friends with these people thus improving relationships; personal, business and social. The disconnected, impersonal use of the internet is shifting and real connections are starting to thrive again. I am going to a Social Media Club event next week in VA to speak. I just spent twenty minutes following every attendees twitter account so when I arrive I will have already started the connection, the key to the future is following-up with the in-person hand-shake and face-to-face conversation.
I like this post, daunting as it may be. I think all the generations can, and need, to learn form each other.
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