Poso Notices Generation Y

This past year especially, the media blitz trying to psyop people into conflating Generation Y and Millennials seems to have gone into overdrive.

But reality always wins.

Now, the inherent absurdity of predictive models that lump in kids born oline with those who didn’t have cell phones until college is becoming unignorable.

And one internet influencer who notices Generation Y is Agent Poso.

I have previously described what I refer to as the “Centennial” cusp generation, which I distinguish from both Millennials and Generation X

Here are the key points of my theory:

Time Frame:

Born Roughly Between: 1981 and 1990, although some definitions might slightly vary, making them younger than traditional Gen X but older than core Millennials

Unique Cultural Identity:

Last Analog Generation: Centennials are described as the last generation to have experienced significant parts of childhood without pervasive digital technology. They remember the transition from analog to digital life, including the introduction of the internet, but weren’t born into it like Millennials.

Cultural Nostalgia and References:

90s Pop Culture: They have a deep connection to and nostalgia for 90s pop culture, including TV shows, music, and the general vibe of that era. Shows like “Batman: The Animated Series,” “Gargoyles,” and other early Nickelodeon shows were significant to their childhood identity. Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, No Doubt, were key bands.

9/11 occurred during high school for Centennials and many joined the military as a result

Technological Transition:

Digital Transition: This generation has lived through the significant technological shifts from dial-up internet to broadband, and from no cell phones to having them become common, but not ubiquitous from birth.

Economic and Social Challenges:

Financial Crisis: Many were entering or already in the workforce during the Global Financial Crisis, which shaped their views on work, money, and economic security

Independence and Self-Reliance:

Cusp Generation: They embody aspects of both Gen X’s independence (due to less parental oversight in the pre-digital era) and the communal aspects of Millennials but with fewer of what might be described as Millennials’ ‘hangups’—less entitlement or different expectations regarding career and life.

Identity:

Centennial Identity: Simply put, Centennials don’t act like Gen X or core millennials, necessitating the separate label

Social Media and Internet Use:

Late Adoptions: While they use social media, they might not have the same level of digital native intuition as Millennials or Generation Z, having adapted to these technologies later in life

Centennial Theory positions this group as having a particular vantage point due to their experiences straddling two major generational cohorts, experiencing both the end of an analog childhood and the beginning of the digital age. Their identity, according to this theory, is shaped significantly by these transitional experiences, making them distinct in cultural, technological, and economic terms.

Labels aside–I’m find with “Centennial Generation,” just as I’ve also used “The Nintendo Generation” as a more illustrative synonym for Gen Y–Posobiec’s observations have a high degree of overlap with generational tendencies we’ve documented here.

Related: Marketing Millennials 

If Poso notices Generation Y, you can bet that others will, too. In fact, his prescription for Centennials’ predestined role in society aligns with my classification of Ys as a Fourth Turning theory Artist Generati0n.

Related: Hope for Gen Y

I, for one, wholeheartedly welcome the increasing public consciousness of Generation Y. Because contrary to my expectations, The Baby Boomers are not skipping over their elder and younger children to bestow power direclty on their Millennial grandkids. Surprisingly, they are letting history’s middle children, Gen Y, inherit the kingdom.

Now, the most likely reason for this historic upset is not a last-minute change of heart on the part of the Boomers. Instead, it seems they bought into the aforementioned marketing campaign, which convinced them that Generation Y are Millennials.

Lesson learned. Never underestimate the Holy Television.

The good news is that their terminal nostalgia may actually be edging Gen Y further away from Millennials’ worst political excesses. It turns out that a generation obsessed with the cultural product of the late twentieth century isn’t keen on plowing under everything made before 1995.  That means Ys may be poised to take on their role as Artists who hand down the last living memory of America at its height. The pop culture iconoclasts may not win the day after all.

And that alone is why the freshman class of Gen Y leaders and artists should get the benefit of the doubt.