Generational stereotypes have always been very common, but some of the most talked about as of recently come from Millennials. Millennials’s are one of the most misunderstood generations in centuries. There is a lot of buzz generated around how millennials do things differently, and are the children of a time where technology is all consuming. We are often misjudged, based on how the world sees us. There are many myths about our generation, which is taking away from our individuality. The first myth that is common is about how millennials are lazy. Baby boomers and generations alike love to speak on how my generation slacks off of real life responsibilities. However in a scholarly article by Stephanie Van Dellen(1), she discusses a World Leadership Survey that was conducted (Deal & Levinson, 2016.) In this survey they found that Millennials are not just “entitled and lazy,” but rather “entitled and hardworking.” This misconception comes from the fact that they think millenials only care about partying, which is another myth. In reality, Millennials just value having a life outside of work, and are willing to work even harder to have this life.
The element of millennials being party people is another common theme that older adults like to mention. Our generation is known for sex and partying, when in reality, we really like to chill more than others. In an article by Ryan Inzana(2), he points out that “three quarters of millenials like to stay in on weekends” which is an interesting fact to consider. Another fact Inzana mentions is 75% of millennials drink in moderation. These facts prove the Baby Boomers wrong who believe that all we care about is partying. This ties in as well to the misconception that we don’t do traditional dating culture. The hook up culture is more common than ever, and it makes it harder for people out age to find spouses. There is more of an emphasis on being single and independent. People think millennials are afraid of marriage, however this isn’t the case, it is just that we like to marry later. Instead of jumping to marriage in our early twenties, people have been waiting until the age of 30 to settle down.
Not only are there many myths about millennials, but there are also a lot of commonly known truths as well. One truth about millennials is we are very untrusting. There are so many fake people in the world these days, that people are hesitant to trust others, especially due to technology. Due to a decrease in face to face interactions, it has taken a toll on human interation, and social skills have definitely gone down. Another interesting truth that millennials possess has to do with lacking basic life skills that most of our parents grew up with. Whether it comes to relying solely on technology for things like navigating, if it weren’t for technology we would be useless in that area. Another thing we lack skills on is house chores, such as laundry a or handy-work. This points out that millenials are not necessarily lazy, but we definitely are underexposed to these helpful skills to use throughout life. We take to the internet usually, and just look everything up for instruction on how to do general things.
Social media is indirectly the primary issue when it comes to millennials differences from other generations. We use social media for all aspects of our lives. When it comes to dating, applying for jobs, traveling, and just how we show ourselves to the world, social media is all consuming. This creates an image of yourself that you crafted completely, allowing you to be anyone you’d like to be while online. This comes with both danger and power. The danger lies within human interactions being surface level, and based on appearance now more than ever. We get all of our news and ideas about the world from online, nothing is in writing anymore. People have the ability to post whatever they want, even if it is misleading information. This ties into the idea that millennials don’t know what’s going on in the world. People communicate often by posting on each others social media. As if comments were a way to have a conversation with others. In a scholarly article by Amanda Lenhart(3), “Fully 86% of teen social network users post comments to a friend’s page or wall, and 83% have added comments to a friends picture”. This just shows that millennials are overusing social media. This is a common stereotype that does stand true for my generation.
Because we were born in a time of the birth of the internet, millenials are often blamed for the current practices on social media and the changing world. In reality millennials are actually having a positive impact, and we are the future of technology. The new media literacies provided allow us to have the world at our fingertips. With this new breadth of knowledge, anything is possible. This will hopefully make millennials stand out as one of the most well educated and motivated generations. We can make an impact that will change the world forever.
- Dellen, Stephanie Van. “Truth or Myth? Millennial Stereotypes, Self-Image, and Engagement in the Workplace,” n.d. https://doi.org/10.22371/05.2019.005.
2. Bailey, Ainsworth Anthony, and Mohammed Slim Ben Mimoun. “Consumer Social Orientation-Based Personality and Social Media Use: an Exploration among Young US Consumers.” International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising 10, no. 1/2 (2016): 1. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijima.2016.076977.
3. Smith, J.w. “Ten Truths about Millennials (Characteristics of People Belonging to the so-Called Millennial Generation&).” Strategic Direction 27, no. 9 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2011.05627iaa.012.
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