Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that being a part of Generation Z is exactly thrilling but we’re not all that bad.
The truth is, it’s hard. Multitasking, giving media and people your DIVIDED attention, knowing how to type x amount of words per minute, keeping up with all the latest online classroom inventions, becoming familiar with one piece of technology after the other, maintaining online portfolios, self-teaching ourselves through the internet, keeping in contact with friends through social networks- it’s tiring. But I must say, at the same time, it’s also very rewarding.
In a sense, my generation was taught from a very young age how to do it all. How to do one thing and then another, how to market your blog like this, how to make your videos like that, how to grow a movement online, how to promote a cause you care about to a thousand people all at once, how to facilitate homework by using certain websites, how to recruit from all over the world while sitting at your desk, and the list goes on and on.
Millennials, whom other generations might say are “addicted to their phones/computers," are actually self-doers and self-made. And can you blame us?
When asking a teacher during class what a term means, or how to do a certain project, the most common response today is, “Google it." Therefore, the teacher has more class time to teach, and the students need more time to search. And so we do. And then we learn it. And then we do it again next time when we don’t know what another word means, or when we need to learn how to cook a certain meal, or how to do a hairstyle, or carry out a specific plan effectively.
When our authoritative figures and the ones before us say that we have it way easier than they did compared to when they were in college, we take advantage of it. We thank God for it, and we go back to our devices. We use our resources to its fullest capacity; we consume products that other generations might have died for in the past. And let me just say, I think that’s perfectly okay.
Yeah, so maybe we’re a little too caught up with documenting our happy moments, outfits, dinners, vacations, and, well, just about everything. In fact, we are too caught up in virtual appearance that doesn’t match up to our physical reality. We are very consumed in texting the friends that we see every day but don’t get tired of talking to.
Yes, and I admit it is very annoying. But we can’t help but enjoy the facilitation of doing so. And that’s our flaw. We just can’t help it. Just like baby boomers couldn’t help but enjoy the new affordable televisions or the desire to want to break the cult of domesticity. Or how Generation Y couldn’t help but make pop culture and TV overt to sexuality.
It’s all about perception. You see, change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just because we change our channels of communication, priorities or lifestyles does not mean that we are a lost generation. It just means we are different.
Besides, technology and the media doesn’t define us, we subconsciously use it to define ourselves. For example, a person with an excessive amount of money has the free will to do good or bad with the money they have. The fact that they’re still rich doesn’t change, but what they do and how they act with their economic status can show what their priorities might be, what type of person they are and what kinds of things they value. Same thing with technology.
Today, we all have the free will to do whatever we want with our devices and social media accounts. The fact that we now have them doesn’t change, but what we do and how we act with them definitely reflects our priorities, personalities, and values.
Us Millennials, we are self doers. Self thinkers. Self teachers. We’re innovative, fast, greedy for more information, ambitious and to the point. When we want to learn more, we do. When we want to gain more, we do.
So what if we’re attached to our devices? Why are the ones criticizing us just watching us? What are they doing to improve their relationships, businesses, causes, or movements? We get to do it all the same time. I bet the older generations wish they had it that good, don’t you?.
