# The Generation of the Millennials



## notsocordial (May 26, 2019)

As I think about "the generation of the millennials", I ponder over the changes that they have gone through since the last, umm, Xennials. The period that defines the millennials is if they were born between 1981-1996/1997. Well, welcome then. I am not going to point out the flaws and the lacuna or degradation. I am in this with all of you. But, I think it's about time we look into this. Since Gen Z is making way to us already, let's see what the last generation had to offer us.
[h=5]The Goodside.[/h]With the passing years, came the invention of new technology, people started discussing online when to meet off-line, unlike the previous generation, career options opened up, parents became friends, "feminism" came in full form, the concept of stay-at-home dads became normal and people were more open about discussing things that were once a hush-hush.
Lazy became the new cool and thus, the millennials were good at creative problem-solving. They found the easy roads to reach where they wanted to be and smart techniques to achieve their goals. The technology was surely a great part of this new change. Believing and trusting whatever was served to them on their plates was really not their cup of tea. They started looking for answers, they wanted to know the truth and delve deep before making a decision. They challenged the stale, old beliefs and made way for a fresh, new start. Opinions were valued, stands were taken. A change was required, people signed petitions online. Charities, at a click of a button. Compassion, progressive thinking, pragmatism, individualism and authenticism became their ideals.
[h=5]The Detour.[/h]Of course, there was another side to the coin, too. As the thirst for knowledge, power, and rights started to take new forms, the millennials were exposed to new facets of emotions. Already prevalent feelings such as depression and anxiety were given recognition, understood and people became more empathetic. Social media paved the way to vulnerability and exposure. This led to people being forced to come out from the shadows and deal with it. People were exposed to feelings of disapproval, judgements (even by strangers), social anxiety and the list goes on. The erraticness of the whole situation created chaos in the young minds even more and reading of self-help books and the concept of seeking help from a shrink became okay.
The ability to communicate more easily and efficiently also had its downsides. People were into more "open" relationships and cheating in relationships became easier. I wouldn't say this was a characteristic of this generation, though. Earlier, people just probably didn't find out. But, as I said, the communication gap decreased and revelations were made easier. Heartbreaks became the norm and people turned cold and distant due to trust issues and emotional unavailability. Social media flooded with posts related to broken hearts and loss of faith in the good became the new "cool".
[h=5]Things to take home.[/h]So, even though the generation of the millennials is a little screwed up in its own way (Well, who isn't?), they have a lot of things to pack in their bags and take home. It is not easy to deal with vulnerability and constant shaming on the internet, it is not easy to put your stand out there and be demeaned for it, it surely takes a lot of courage to do something because your individual self is calling for it and not what the orthodox rules have dictated to you so far. And, I am pretty glad that the millennials, who have been exposed to this new technology surge, have carried it well and to the best capacity of themselves.
The generation of the millennials have stepped up as a role model to follow for the upcoming generations and there are so many things to learn from them, mistakes and otherwise. My best wishes for Gen Z.


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## Harper J. Cole (May 31, 2019)

Nice piece, people tend to be rather derogatory about the Millennials, so it's good to read a more balanced take. The only query I'd have is whether the period they were born in can be defined so sharply (1981-1996/1997), as I've seen other dates given (e.g. up to 2000 itself).


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## Bard_Daniel (May 31, 2019)

I'm not sure you have enough factual data to back up your hypothesis- it seems a little flimsy as is. It's a good idea, albeit, but I think that you need to ground it more in fact to make it shine.

Just my amateur opinion!


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## Plasticweld (May 31, 2019)

A lot of assumptions and blanket statements.  This would work better if you shared your personal experience rather than try and incorporate everyone under one generalization. 




*The generation of the millennials have stepped up as a role model to follow for the upcoming generations and there are so many things to learn from them, mistakes and otherwise. My best wishes for Gen *Z.

I have not seen any proof of this.  It would be far easier to argue the exact opposite.


As a writer it is your job to establish credibility, wild assumptions not backed up with data discredits you.

Todays headlines contradict your statements.
The-average-millennial-has-an-average-net-worth-13909188.php


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## Winston (Jun 2, 2019)

It's good to see some additional life here in the Non-Fiction section.  Thanks for contributing.

I am seeing a pattern with this and another post here in NF.  IMHO, you need to either go "persuasive" or "exploitative". This piece comes down the middle again.  
If you're going to Persuade, come at the reader guns-blazing.  Own it.  Have an opinion, back it solid, and make your reader a convert to your cause.  Facts and passion.
If you're going to Explore, define the opinions and neutral space, cite conflicting reputable sources.  Then back-off.  
If you're working the middle ground, that's the hard technical space.  You can Explore a topic into a certain direction, back the reader into a rhetorical corner, then it's Persuasive.  Nuanced and subtle. 

This read like literary cat-herding.  You have good ideas, interesting points and passion.  But they're going different directions at the same time.  
Sorry if that was a bit harsh.  I look forward to reading more of your posts.  We're all here to share and learn.


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## notsocordial (Jun 2, 2019)

Harper J. Cole said:


> Nice piece, people tend to be rather derogatory about the Millennials, so it's good to read a more balanced take. The only query I'd have is whether the period they were born in can be defined so sharply (1981-1996/1997), as I've seen other dates given (e.g. up to 2000 itself).



Yeah, different sources define the time period differently. So, I have taken a majority on this one! Thank you for the read


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## notsocordial (Jun 2, 2019)

Bard_Daniel said:


> I'm not sure you have enough factual data to back up your hypothesis- it seems a little flimsy as is. It's a good idea, albeit, but I think that you need to ground it more in fact to make it shine.
> 
> Just my amateur opinion!



Okay! I am going to work on improving that. Thank you!


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## notsocordial (Jun 2, 2019)

Plasticweld said:


> A lot of assumptions and blanket statements.  This would work better if you shared your personal experience rather than try and incorporate everyone under one generalization.
> 
> Thanks! I am going to work on it!
> 
> ...


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## notsocordial (Jun 2, 2019)

Winston said:


> It's good to see some additional life here in the Non-Fiction section.  Thanks for contributing.
> 
> I am seeing a pattern with this and another post here in NF.  IMHO, you need to either go "persuasive" or "exploitative". This piece comes down the middle again.
> If you're going to Persuade, come at the reader guns-blazing.  Own it.  Have an opinion, back it solid, and make your reader a convert to your cause.  Facts and passion.
> ...



Thank you so much!


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## Parable_of_Pleiades (Jun 3, 2019)

I see room for improvement in clarity.  I had a lot of questions starting to read this.



> As I think about "the generation of the millennials",nitpicking, but the title is millennials not "the millennials" I ponder over the changes that they have gone through since the last, umm, Xennials. Xennials are cuspers, the last Xennials are technically millennials themselves, so how have we gone through them?The period that defines the millennials is ifif? they were born between 1981-1996/1997. Well, welcome then. I am not going to point out the flaws and the lacuna or degradation. I am in this with all of you.does this mean you are a millennial? But, I think it's about time we look into this. Since Gen Z is making way to us already,who is us? Who is gen Z? let's see what the last obviously not the last, you JUST mention gen Zgeneration had to offer us.



My biggest gripe with this though is that the bulk of the post is in past tense. My last gripe is how you ended off the post talking to Gen Z for some reason.


I LOVED how you took the millennials are lazy trope, turned it on its head and made it an efficiency tool, that's brilliant. That is the type of thinking I want to read more of. 

I think you tried to do it again later, when framing emotions and vulnerability as a negative, but it didn't have the same punch. If someone already agrees with you they will accept it,  but if they don't (and most millennials would disagree that emotions are a problem) your going to have to give some good reasoning. How is going to therapy bad?

Now, you might be onto something with your post about emotional unavailability,  even though it directly contradicts your previous statement.  But again,  I'd like to see proof. Or, even more interestingly,  the psychology behind why.  

Lots of good ideas in here,  I'd just like to see them fleshed out more. I'll mention I have some bias for this subject so feel free to keep that in mind in regards to my critique!


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