Generation Edge

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:03 am

A brand consultancy has identified "Generation Edge", the generation born after 1995 whose childhood was punctuated by terrorism and war and adolescence was amidst economic collapse. This is a generation who knew an America that voted in a very very stupid man whom they'd "like to have a beer with" and who saw explosive debt, falling income and employment, and an aging boomer generation that turned on their young just as they had turned on their parents. This generation was also raised by the cynical and bitter Xers who valued and praised independence and individuality--ideals that they came to embrace more than the conformist Millennials. They also became less idealist and more practical. Instead of a sense of entitlement fostered by helicopter parents, the Edge generation understands that life is unfair and naivete is more destructive than anything else.
This is the analysis of this firm, and I think it's very interesting. If they're right about these kids, the Edgers sound like an awesome bunch who are going to do some truly awesome things. For starters, they'll start beating up the hipsters.
Here's the story: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/a ... z2ChMmGQeU

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 4:21 am

They were brought up in a world where the internet and wikipedia always existed. That has given them a more nuanced understanding of the world from a very early age. No longer could authority figures pull the wool over their eyes by telling them something is an unquestioned "fact" when it is disputed. It is a rite of passage to discover your parents may be wrong. These kids learned that very early on.

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 4:37 am

An interesting side note is that Warren Buffett said he would give up half his wealth to have the Internet. It would have been interesting growing up with it.

TheWanderingScholar · Post by **TheWanderingScholar** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 4:54 am

Well I was born on the edge of Generation Edgers, being born in 1995 and all I must say is that sounds like me.
Generation Edge FTW!

Post by **jacob** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:07 am

They're 17 years old (or younger) and already referred to as consumers. I wonder if that's a terminal condition?
(Am I the only one who find the "consumer"-label insulting?)

TheWanderingScholar · Post by **TheWanderingScholar** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:12 am

That is the kind of messed up to referring to human beings as consumers but look where it is at. It's at marketing daily so in context it is understandable. However is it insulting-yes.

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:12 am

YAW--glad you responded. I wanted to get your insight on this--do you think the generation described is the norm at your high school? What major differences are there to the Generation Edge analysis?

TheWanderingScholar · Post by **TheWanderingScholar** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:08 am

Generation Edge and my experience?
Well my personal experience this year in high school with my class has limited to kids mostly in Dual Credit or AP classes however here is what I see.
Generation Edge is right in the fact that many of classmate are realist, knowing that college is going to be expensive. Many of the top ten in my class are working a part time job while having a fully loaded course (that are hard or time consuming). Many are going for degrees that have high growth aspects, a couple are doing the pharmacy tech. cert. course next semester (likewise here). Not only that but many are planning to working during college.
On the resilient path, many of them are knowledgeable and gun hoe on doing whats right in the big picture even if it means being an exact saint. (None of us are really). Also when we screw up with just "woops I guess" and just keep on going. The j-curve is quite well-known among my peers by name or otherwise. Work smarter not harder is a phrase tossed around a lot.
Resourcefulness is defiantly accurate. Any way we can screw the system we do it whether we trade notes, give college question around, use the same source, cheating, and sharing information with each other when needed. Most of the time anyways.
Also may I note that our group is REALLY REALLLY f-ing mean. Seriously, classmates of 2012 called class of 2013 in general. And not just to other classes but within our own class. That is our reputation-we are smart but mean at the same time.
Also 2014 is shaping to be like us except a little more rowdy.
P.S. We are slightly misanthropic.

Dragline · Post by **Dragline** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:31 am

I think its a pretty forced analysis and is counterfactual. First, Gen-x parents do not want their children to grow up "on the edge". They want them to grow up in an environment that they did not have, which generally means less broken and chaotic, and more ordered and purposeful.
Second, from personal experience, I have kids born in this time period and teach kids (now adults) born in the 80s. They have a similar outlook and there is nothing "edgy" about them, at least compared to what went on in my childhood. Heck, every year at my high school (in the 80s) somebody died -- usually related to drunk driving. And people just shrugged their shoulders, because "shit happens". My eldest (born 1995) is pretty much straight out of the 1950s in terms of edginess. (I feel very fortunate.) As a group, they mostly like and want direction and crave feedback. And they are certainly NOT idealistic per the article. Jeez -- that's the Baby Boomers.
If there is a break, it is probably in the early 2000s. But that generation has already been christened "The Homeland Generation" by demographers and generational historians. They will be too young to participate in the crisis period we are in right now, but will remember it as children. It is an echo of the silent generation that is now all 70+. My youngest is on the cusp of this generation. Sure enough, he's a little quieter, creative and sensitive than his older siblings -- and relates extremely well to his 79-year old artistic grandmother.
The article looks like a poorly reasoned marketing tool to me designed to drive traffic to "The Sound Research", who seems to be looking for a hook. See also the comment at the bottom of the article.

TheWanderingScholar · Post by **TheWanderingScholar** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:46 am

@Dragline: Maybe your right. I think the the reason why personal experience is skewed is the fact that the people I hang around with are both outside the social norms of the area and are much different intellectual than the majority of people in our grade.

Also we are not exactly edge-y per say. Just really disgruntled by modern American society, with a relatively crappy education system (Texas education system we went through didn't prepare us for college), a government system that we dislike*, and a society that doesn't embrace intellectual endeavors like physical ones, even though we do better. (again in the part of Texas that is very buried in old tradition).
*And I extremely dislike/ apathetic for.

jzt83 · Post by **jzt83** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:47 pm

Anyone else experiencing generation cohort over-analysis fatigue syndrome?

GandK · Post by **GandK** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 3:18 pm

<raises hand>
Me.

Christopherjart · Post by **Christopherjart** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 4:24 pm

I can't agree with the findings compared to my own experience.

mikeBOS · Post by **mikeBOS** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:19 pm

@jzt83 I've been arguing against it for months. I still think it's a case of people convincing themselves that there are patterns and order where there are none.

J_ · Post by J_ » Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:33 pm

jzt83, gandk, M: me too, to me it is hollow talk.

mds · Post by **mds** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:41 pm

I disagree that people born after 1995 have it worse than previous generations. If we stepped in a time machine back to 1995 or even to 2006 (pre-recession), I think it'd be fairly obvious that things are better today. Yes these kids saw 9/11, a recession and two wars happen, but their day to day lives and opportunities are better than any generation before. I would have killed for Wikipedia or Khan Academy when I was in school. Things are getting better on the social side too - in 1996 the Defense of Marriage Act was passed and this month three states passed same sex marriage by popular vote. That's definitely progress. If I was born in 1995 I don't think I could help but be entitled.

Felix · Post by **Felix** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:43 pm

This "generationalism" strikes me as just as accurate as racism or sexism as it suffers from the same epistemiological flaws. It's a case of overgeneralisation pure and simple.
This is a fun wacky read on the subject:

http://www.rawilson.com/csicon.html

TheWanderingScholar · Post by **TheWanderingScholar** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:34 pm

Generation Y,X,Z, and so on is something not to take serious really.
It is just wild mass guessing really.

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 8:21 pm

It's not wild guessing. Sure, much of the 2-3 page articles are just nonsense with big words and cherry picked fact or two, as the writers are only looking to put something out that gets them paid. But, the more serious discussions, such as the ones from Strauss and Howe. They freely admit the key behaviors and trends for each generation do not apply directly to each person in that generation, but that there is a slight shift towards the favored behaviors and trends when every single person in that generation is taken into account. This is essentially a theory of crowds and not a theory of the individual.
I do, however, think this article is BS, as the "generations" this writer is talking about are barely a decade long.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 1:05 am

The Baby Boomers were 180° different from their parents. They do indeed have very distinct characteristics that set them apart. We GenXers are also somewhat different from our parents. Maybe not the same extent as the Boomer/Silent difference, but different nonetheless.
It is not unreasonable to assume that subsequent generations would differ greatly from their predecessors because the world is changing at an accelerating pace. It is also not unreasonable to try to figure what those changes are or will be. We use generalizations every day in everything we do.
The question is.... are the generalizations correct or are they just guesses put forth by those who want to claim the naming rights to Generation Edge?