What is a millennial? Within the past few years, the Millennial generation has been blamed for everything that’s wrong with the world. But no one has an exact definition for who is considered a “millennial.” Many sources agree that the Millennials, also known as Generation Y, begin around 1980 and end mid 90s. But where is the cut off? According to Dale Carnegie Training and MSW Research, the Millennials are “the generation born between 1980 and 1996.”

I believe that those of us born in 1996 are the last of the Millennials because, although young, we are the last to remember 9/11. Being 5 years old, I remember being in my kindergarten classroom when the announcement about the World Trace Center attacks came over the PA system and we were all released from school early.

We are also the last to remember using cassette tapes, VHS, and Walkmans, before the transition to DVDs and iPods. We are the last to remember transitioning from the old technology to the new. I remember having a Walkman for CDs and before that playing cassettes— albeit was probably songs like “The Wheels on the Bus”— but I remember putting the tapes into the boombox and being careful not to break them by pulling out the tape. Because for little kids, that looks like a fun toy. I remember all our movies being on VHS and having to wait for them to rewind back to the beginning before watching them again, and I remember putting the blank tape in the VCR to record my favorite show for later— even if it was Dragon Tales.

According to an article in USA Today, in 1996, DVDs had just been invented and were not widely circulated until a few years later when Blockbuster announced that they would circulate DVD rentals at the end of 1999. But even then, it was still a few ore years until millions of DVDs were being sold and starting to replace VHS tapes completely. I remember going to the video store and renting VHS tapes and I remember when the video rental stores started to sell both VHS and DVDs until the DVDs slowly took over. Therefore, it is correct to end the Millennials in 1996 because, although we were young during 9/11 and the beginning of the digital technology shift, we are the last year that has personal memories of these events.

Now, what’s difficult about being the last of a generation is that you’re the generation gap. Those of us born in 1996 relate more to the Millennials than to the generation after us— Gen Z— but since we are the last of the Millennials, we feel a little removed from our own generation. Although we remember what we were doing and where we were when 9/11 happened and remember using cassette tapes, we didn’t experience these things in the same way that someone just 5 years older than us did. But at the same time, we don’t relate to Gen Z and how they interact with the social media revolution. We are the generation gap.

I remember getting my first cell phone— the Motorola razor—when I was in 7th grade, then upgrading to the sliding keyboard phone a couple years later when texting became more popular, and finally getting an iPhone midway through high school. A different experience from the years before me who got their first cell phones in high school or college, but also vastly different from the generation after us whose first phone was an iPhone at the age of 8.

Before social media apps were easily accessible on our phones, I remember using the home desktop computer to access Myspace and AIM before Facebook existed, and I remember when Facebook became the social media and everyone used it.

The other day, my friends and I were talking about how Gen Z uses social media very differently than we do. Even the year just below us— the ’97 kids— are just on a different page than us. Growing up in the years of the technology and social media revolution has caused a noticeable difference in how we view and use social media compared to those just a year younger than us. And it is this difference that makes us feel the generation gap now more than ever.

My friends and I discussed how if we didn’t have someone’s phone number and wanted to contact them, we would message them on Facebook because that seems like the best way to reach them and the most similar form to texting.However, for the generation that begins just a year after us, it’s all Instagram. To them, Facebook is irrelevant, so if they are going to contact someone through social media, they will “DM” them on Instagram. We talked about how we just don’t understand that mentality because, to us, Instagram is reserved for pictures, so it would be weird to have a conversation on there. To us, Instagram is for pictures, little snapshots of your life that you want to share with your friends, and Facebook is for everything else.

We still remember how Facebook was before the popularity of Instagram and Snapchat emerged. It replaced both AIM and Myspace, and it was revolutionary. You could chat with your friends on Facebook and see who is online, just like on AIM, share entire albums of your recent vacation, and utilize the Groups to keep up with your high school clubs. To us, Facebook is still relevant and no other form of social media will ever replace it— how else are you supposed to efficiently invite all your friends to you birthday party?

The rest of the Millennials would agree with us on what Facebook means to us and its irreplaceability, but the kids born in 1997 and beyond would argue that Facebook is becoming irrelevant. This is where those of us born in '96 especially feel the gap.

In the social media revolution that we’re in, we relate more to the Millennials, but at the same time, we weren’t in college when Facebook launched and was exclusively for college students, changing the entire social environment on college campuses. As much as we remember the development and shift of Myspace and AIM to Facebook, as well as the prominence Facebook had in our high school lives, we didn’t experience its evolution in the same way those a few years older than us did. I got a Facebook in 8th grade, so I can’t relate to how it changed the dynamics of social life on a college campus, but at the same time, I will be able to bond with older Millennials over Facebook’s relevance and how we don’t understand Gen Z’s usage of social media.

For example, Finstas have become popular with Gen Z, beginning with those born in 1997. Those of us born in 1996 don’t understand its purpose or appeal and we’re just separated by one year. We understand Instagram to be the place where you put your best foot forward, where you capture your best moments— similar to when you’d pick your best pictures from your camera roll to put in your Facebook album. So why would you want a “fake Instagram” to show off all your wild and crazy moments for the whole world to see. What happened to privacy? Because even if your account is “private,” nothing on the internet is truly private, so why would you want to leak anything so personal?

I don’t feel the need to record every second of my life or a desire to show the world my funny but less than proud moments. I see the point of social media to be the reason Facebook was created: to connect you with your friends from various places and points in your life, and to share the events and moments you’re most excited about/proud of. Your favorite moments. Not to document your life— especially the moments where you’re not showcasing the best version of yourself. Whatever happened to leaving a little mystery?

And that is why those of us born in 1996, the last of the Millennials, relate more to the year above us, who are one step further into the Millennial generation than us, and is also why we feel a disconnect with the class below us. We relate more with the Millennials than Gen Z, but in a way, we are an island. We don’t completely fit into either category, but I’m sure that is the case with the last of any generation. And that is why we are the gap.