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DEREK POWAZEK
Author, Designer, Troublemaker, Person
Articles Posted: 11; Links Seeded: 3
Member Since: 2/2006Last Seen: 11/05/2007
Member Since: 2/2006Last Seen: 11/05/2007
16 Comments
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I'm 33. That means I'm stuck somewhere in between Generation X and Y. Generation X was stereotyped as lazy postmodernists, too comfy with our liberal arts degrees to get off the couch and do anything. Generation Y was defined by being, um, younger than that.
Frankly, I never saw much connection between myself and those labels. And lately, I've been thinking about what truly defines my generation. Us web geeks, us iPodders and remixers. I think we're Generation M. Here's my loose, entirely unscientific definition in three parts.
The "M" is for Multitask. We like to do two things at a time, minimum. We listen to music while surfing the web and having four IM conversations at a time. We check our email on crackberrys and hiptops under the table during meetings. We don't feel fulfilled unless there's more than one thing going on. The closest thing my parent's generation had to this kind of multitasking was reading the paper on the toilet.
The "M" is also for Mashup, my favorite example of multitask culture. What's the appeal of a song that mashes together the Scissor Sisters, Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and George Michael into 5 minutes of seamless ear candy? I have no idea. I just know that I can't get enough of "No One Takes Your Freedom" by the amazingly talented DJ Earworm, which does exactly that.
Finally, the "M" is for Media, with emphasis on the "me." My generation, we make media. From the Xeroxed zines of the 80s, to the homepages of the 90s, to the blogs of the 00s - there is no corner of our lives that goes undocumented. No niche topic gone unexplored. And as a result, we know how to talk, to think, to find connections with like minds, no matter where they are.
And like any good generational differentiator, our parents just don't get it. They see our multitasking as ADD or the more recently coined term to say the same thing, "continuous partial attention." They don't understand that what looks like dithering is just a new shotgun form of information management.
We were raised in the information revolution. We got used to 500 channels of nothing on, and upped the ante to billions of constantly-updating websites. There's more information floating around than we could possibly ever consume, so we surf, we skim, we take in the best and let the rest float by. And we're really good at it.
Our elders listen to mashups and just hear noise. They write off the media we produce by saying "there's no there there" or labeling it with crap terms like "user-generated content" (as if all those journalists and editors aren't "users" too). Like their parents before them, our parents just don't get it.
And like the misunderstood generations that came before, someday this world will be ours. And, personally, I can't wait to see what we do with it.
Originally posted to Powazek.com.
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{"commentId":141207,"authorDomain":"videos"}
Hey Derek:
Great Quote.. 8-)
We got used to 500 channels of nothing on, and upped the ante to billions of constantly-updating websites. There's more information floating around than we could possibly ever consume, so we surf, we skim, we take in the best and let the rest float by. And we're really good at it.
I would add another M tho. Mobile!
Cheers,
Lars.
{"commentId":141207,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"videos"}
#1 - Wed May 31, 2006 5:48 AM EDT{"commentId":141249,"authorDomain":"yachris"}
Hey! Nice writeup. I fall neatly between the boomers and gen-x, so I know that "hey, they're not me!" feeling.
You might take a moment and do the less-than-positives list... you've very nicely hit the upsides.
And finally,
someday this world will be ours.
You are SO already there! Look at all the (me)dia already out there from you (AND lots of us other generations, I might add :-).
--yachris
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- 1 vote
#2 - Wed May 31, 2006 7:49 AM EDT{"commentId":141453,"authorDomain":"thebigreason"}
I turned 33 on Saturday. Your accuracy is completely eerie. Are we that transparent?
{"commentId":141453,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"thebigreason"}
#3 - Wed May 31, 2006 11:20 AM EDT{"commentId":141743,"authorDomain":"powazek"}
{"commentId":141739,"authorDomain":"powazek"}
{"commentId":142424,"authorDomain":"hiredgoon"}
i'm 31 and am also caught in XY generational chromosone divide. i do video podcasts for the australian big brother series () but my mom doesnt understand what that means. i've bought her an ibook, setup itunes on it, and even subscribed to the podcast, but she still cannot work out how i got into the "little window"
i don't think they'll ever get it. to all intense purposes her son is "in computers"
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#5 - Wed May 31, 2006 9:45 PM EDT{"commentId":144372,"authorDomain":"faruk"}
I'm 23 at the moment, but I definitely feel I belong in Generation M.
Good piece, but the addition from above (M for Mobile) is appropriate too. We're the generation that takes our notebooks everywhere, uses our cellphones to communicate from anywhere with people all over the world, constantly, and finds these things to be the most obvious and logical things to do while away from home.
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#6 - Fri Jun 2, 2006 8:09 AM EDT{"commentId":145998,"authorDomain":"yachris"}
One other thing (if by "one" you mean "two" :-).
First, I remember you blogging a bit ago about how you "didn't know and didn't care" what the current top-ten songs were on the radio. That's cool, but I recently unsubscribed from mashuptown.com's podcast precisely because I didn't recognize the songs being mashed!
Second, it seems like Gen-M has a different take on this whole programming thing. When I started, the thing was to make an Application, and then sell it to everyone. And to get rich it had to be the only one, and stand alone. So it's just amazing to see how, once something kewl like Flickr or del.icio.us pops up, one of the first things to come up is an API to work with it! So along with the Media, it seems like the tag-based social-style cooperation/inter-web-servicing thing is something we owe to you guys too. Excellent!
{"commentId":145998,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"yachris"}
#7 - Sat Jun 3, 2006 10:11 AM EDT{"commentId":146424,"authorDomain":"withportfolio"}
You've nailed it! 35 this year and recently self-diagnosed ADHD. Now I know why!
{"commentId":146424,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"withportfolio"}
#8 - Sat Jun 3, 2006 4:57 PM EDT{"commentId":146689,"authorDomain":"mendel"}
Every generation needs to kick their parents in order to be free. It is part of the ride.
More options are great. Billions of websites are mind boggling. I love my iMac, iPod, TIVO,
& hybrid car. I still like to look at people in the eye when I talk to them and hug a real
and not virtual person. Technology is GREAT but it makes things more complex.
{"commentId":146689,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"mendel"}
#9 - Sat Jun 3, 2006 9:14 PM EDT{"commentId":150743,"authorDomain":"joshspazjosh"}
IMO I think this isn't a generational thing, more like "everyone younger than x years that's familiar with the technology." For example, I'm 18 [which makes me. . .Generation Z?] and I feel that the GenM criteria applies to me.
What you describe gets more and more accurate as you get younger and younger. For example, my 10-year-old sister and a lot of kids today do not remember when the Internet didn't exist in its current incarnation as a mainstream content provider, which to me is mind-boggling.
Love your blog, btw.
{"commentId":150743,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"joshspazjosh"}
- 1 vote
#10 - Wed Jun 7, 2006 9:12 AM EDT{"commentId":250691,"authorDomain":"playswellwithothers"}
As a 33 year old San Franciscan, like yourself, I can pretty much relate to it all. I've been wondering whether I'm closer to GenX or Gen Y. Gen M sounds like a good Midway—a place in this crazy world we created.
www.playswellwithothers.net
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#11 - Mon Aug 14, 2006 7:53 PM EDT{"commentId":254667,"authorDomain":"asterisk"}
Hmm, I'm not sure I agree with you 100%. I think you're describing a segment of a generation (or generations.) I know lots of people in both Gen X or Gen Y who don't do the things you talk about. Ok maybe the multitask bit is right on, but I'm personally trying to avoid multitasking so...
Seriously, if I didn't work in the field that I do I would probably think you're definitely talking about a much younger generation -- not most of the 30-somethings I know.
Doesn't mean that it's not accurate -- you describe me and many people I do know very well. However, again, if I didn't work in the Field I do I'd not know those people.
I just know so many people that fall right into the age group you're talking about who don't look to me like the Gen M'r you describe. They don't blog, they don't know what the heck a "Mashup" is, they don't create media. They live life offline much more than online. Most of my friends are like that and they seem pretty normal to me.
So, what do we call them?
{"commentId":254667,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"asterisk"}
- 2 votes
#12 - Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:16 AM EDT{"commentId":254895,"authorDomain":"faruk"}
So, what do we call them?
Generation M.0
{"commentId":254895,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"faruk"}
{"commentId":257929,"authorDomain":"zungu"}
Yeah, I love your definition. Definitely add "mobile" though.
{"commentId":257929,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"zungu"}
#13 - Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:06 PM EDT{"commentId":266926,"authorDomain":"ihoffman"}
{"commentId":266936,"authorDomain":"ihoffman"}
{"commentId":268103,"authorDomain":"ihoffman"}
Thought this might interest you.
{"commentId":268103,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"ihoffman"}
#16 - Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:33 PM EDT{"commentId":268119,"authorDomain":"ihoffman"}
Sorry. Just read the 'new user' restrictions. Apparently, I cannot upload links. So, Google this:
BelgiuMomentum IMI: The new needs of "Generation M" hit the Belgian market
It's an article on what some Belgian's are calling Generation 'M'.
{"commentId":268119,"threadId":"20351","contentId":"235643","authorDomain":"ihoffman"}
#17 - Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:38 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"20351","isPrivate":false}
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