It’s easy to point the finger at Generations Y and Z when looking at cultural change–though this isn’t necessarily a compliment.
We are, after all, the ones who’ve experienced the brunt of it. Though we may not have been the inventors of the Internet or Google, we are the ones who’ve grown up amidst these and many other technological advancements. Oftentimes, it is this easy access to information that brands us as lazy, impatient individuals who fail to grasp the concept of hard work.
And yet, almost simultaneously, we are recognized as the creators of an entire new language of Internet slang, the propagators of social reform, the cultivators of an entire new social platform–
So what is the truth? Are we innovators, or the downfall of the human race?
What many people fail to recognize in their snap judgments of these latest generations is the nature of culture itself: fluid, not stagnant. Culture grows with society itself in order to effectively represent the populations it serves, whether this growth is acknowledged or not.
A recent–and controversial–societal change worthy of notice is the shift to a need for instant gratification.
Whether it is viewed in a positive or negative light, the shift is most definitely present. Subsequently, it has become the cornerstone for both economic and social changes, including the shift to a tendency towards casual dating.
A hallmark of the today’s youth, many attribute the decline of committed relationships and the pervasion of hookup culture to our supposed desire for immediate results and our somewhat stunted real-life communication skills. Either way, the change is most definitely generational: a result of the society we’re living in today and the culture it promotes, not necessarily the individuals themselves.
Generational shifts are not unheard of, yet this one is harped on incessantly. What about the shift from going steady to dating, from high school diploma to college degree, from housewife to working woman?
Generations Y and Z are the latest in a long line of revolutionaries. Analyze this new world we live in, if you’d like. Your opinions are welcome. But keep in mind that these are not the first major culture shifts to occur in recent history, and that they are most certainly not the last.
