February 8, 2010

What it means to be Gen-Y: Unfiltered.

Nice to see you again. Follow me, @SydneyOwen. Thanks for being here!

::pulling out my hair::

There are eleventy-million bloggers out there these days branding themselves as “Gen-Y” and really using that for all it’s worth. And that’s great – really. I get it. I feel like the Gen-Y community as a whole is walking a very fine line that divides us between totally awesome advice-givers and shameless self-promoters that leave an icky taste in your mouth.

What side of the line are you on?

There is a fantastic group of bloggers who offer a great wealth of knowledge through the lessons they are learning in their own lives that they share with us. Some of them are hilarious, some make you want to cry, and some just make you scream “YES! YOU GET IT! YOU ARE READING MY MIND!” The topics are wide and vast – from relocating to another country and coming back, to NSFW hilarity, plain and simple brilliant writing skills, or rock-solid career advice.

There are also eleventy million definitions of Gen-Y. If there is one thing we’re good at, it’s defining our generation.

My definition, how I see myself as a Gen-Y blogger/tweeter/person in general:

Eager to learn from the best and the brightest, insanely pumped up about life in general, prefers to work “with” people vs. “for” people (it’s a state of mind, not saying I don’t work “for” people. We all work “for” someone, technically), not afraid to ask questions, not afraid to share a point-of-view (because hey, even if I’m wrong, at least I’ll learn something as opposed to saying “I don’t know”) and hoping to share the little nuggets of wisdom that I learn along the way via this blog.

Besides the obvious definitions that state the age range of our generation, when you hear “Gen-Y” what do you think about? What words come to mind?

  • patrickbjohnson
    Previously when I heard the term Gen-Y it was a way of defining our generation. Now, as things are changing faster than any one can predict or keep up with. I feel like the "gen-y-ers are defining our generation. You could call us (gen-y-ers) bloggers, tweeters, talkers, etc. anything that reinforces the idea of mass communication and community, it wouldn't matter. We are what we make it. I'm happy to be apart of Gen-Y. I love your definition. For me, I feel like I try to embody your definition of Gen-Y. I think we all do in a way. We are our own person, we ask questions, we value relationships. Overall we understand our quality of life thus far and appreciate our own ways of living.
  • Not Gen X like me. LOL!
  • TQ
    I have to disagree with you S, unless your definition is specific to people who blog seriously.

    Especially with the non bloggers, the Twit-culture has helped foster a generation of people who prefer to not talk to people in favor of earphoned isolation. Those who are more prone, and seek, to hook-up (a less than 140 character relationship) than seek substance. Not to mention an over inflated sense of self importance.

    Actually, I believe that over inflated sense of self importance is directly applicable to bloggers. Of which I am easily a member. Anybody who writes highly personal posts for "public consumption" can't hide from that label.

    Please don't misinterpret this as a "negative comment." I support all who blog and all who find a creative outlet. I just think a lot of us need to calm down and not be so quick to pat ourselves on the back.
  • nicoleantoinette
    Fuck yeah I'm not safe for work.
  • Thank you for the link-love woman! I really like your definition (and can't wait for the panel!) and I would also add that in many ways we really like working for ourselves too. That's why so many of us have blogs and see ourselves as our own little company (or at least I do).
  • When I hear "Gen-Y" all I think of is that it is a label. A box. Something that is somewhat confining. I think this is the generation that sheds all of that and becomes something more... what? I have no freaking idea, it's not my generation ;)

    UNRELATED: Hey mentor, props on the blogging challenge. Super curious to hear about your experience creating content for 28 straight days.
  • Tekkie freaks. We absorb information in 140 characters or less. Gen Y is one big Attention Deficit Disorder. I definitely agree that we believe that work amongst others is of equal playing ground. Ultimately, any task that is brought upon us, we understand that the overall goal is to achieve the same result.

    The "Me Factor" has been coined to define Generation Y but I disagree with this term. For myself, a fellow Gen-Yer, I believe that teamwork is a key element in any endeavor...
  • I definitely agree with Olivia that gen y isn't the "me generation" that we're often made out to be. We're more of the "we generation" if anything. We're into crowd sourcing (we send out a tweet or update our Facebook status if we want to get answers to question), interested in what our friends are doing and saying and we want to know what's cool. When I say "cool," I mean the more views a video has on YouTube, the more likely we are to watch or the more reviews a restaurant has on Yelp, the more likely we are to go try the food.
  • "Gen Y is one big ADD."

    Nice.

    And you're right - plenty of Gen Y sees the value in teamwork and collaboration. We have the tools to collaborate with other students across the globe. The smart ones are taking advantage of this for brainstorming, project ideas, and more. Not only have I learned way more than I could imagine, but I've made some great friends too.
  • I agree with Stuart- not one person can accurately define a generation, so we take little pieces here and there. For me, at least, I'm finding that we're much more open in many aspects of life, be it work, culture, etc. Maybe it's the economy but I feel like we're happier with what we have and yet are so resilient to change our lives 180 degrees to make a change.

    The one thing you said though that I really buy into is working "with" people vs. "for" people. I think that's why you see so many great side projects and collaborations happening because we want to work "with" awesome people, rather than "for" 'The Man.'

    Happy Monday :)
  • I think you have to take a composite like anything else...

    I've found The Next Great Generation is a great place to do this. (Granted this is a self plug) But I'd say it offers some of the most diverse voices in the space right now. Think Brazen Careerist with original content?
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