r/GenZ • u/PurpleThylacine 2010 • 1d ago
Generations are a gradient, stop arguing about Cutoff dates Discussion
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u/Salty145 1d ago
I mean I feel like the only people that I’ve seen care are younger Gen Z like yourself. I don’t see older Gen Z caring as much, but it is a strangely pedantic thing to worry about and they seem to have more important worries in their life.
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u/Positive-Avocado-881 1996 1d ago
Yeah, I have a job and bills to worry about hahaha
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u/Bitaboi 1998 1d ago
Yeah I can honestly say I don't really even remember when this generation started or ends
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u/Spider-Nutz 1d ago
Also born in 98. I relate a lot more to younger millenials than I do with people who are even only slightly younger than us.
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u/HumbleSheep33 Age Undisclosed 1d ago
I disagree, as a fellow ‘98er, unless you count 2010-12 as Gen Z
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u/HumbleSheep33 Age Undisclosed 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think I relate most to ‘97-01, followed by ‘02 to ‘05 and then ‘94-‘96. After ‘06 or before ‘93 are completely foreign to me
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u/Spider-Nutz 1d ago
Yes they are gen z and I have absolutely nothing in common really with them though. I think the youngest I can actually relate to is possibly 2002
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u/HumbleSheep33 Age Undisclosed 1d ago
I’d be surprised if that’s the case. I can mostly relate to people born in 1994 and people born 2002-5, but only ~97-‘01 are “my people”. Before 1993 or after 2006 might as well be a different species
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u/Spider-Nutz 1d ago
Yeah thats what I'm saying. Exceot I can relate to people from 1990 mostly because my brother and sister were born in 90 and 91
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u/HumbleSheep33 Age Undisclosed 1d ago
That’s probably because they’re your siblings. I relate to my ‘07 born sister just fine, but her friends? Absolutely not
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u/Spider-Nutz 1d ago
But I can relate to people in general from then. I work with a bunch of people in their early 30s and I relate a lot more to them than anyone in their early 20s
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u/BusinessAd5844 On the Cusp 1d ago
It's almost like people have their own experiences and everyone interacts with different people...
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u/bluejeansseltzer 1998 1d ago
Honestly, I don't really view younger GenZ as being a part of the same generation as older GenZ. The cultural disconnect just feels too far apart (and my brother being born in 2010 really exemplifies that on a personal level) - but maybe the difference is just between being an adult with adult responsibilities and being a teenager with teenage responsibilities.
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u/Positive-Avocado-881 1996 1d ago
Yeah, you probably will when they’re older I think. I’m sure it’s always been like that
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u/CockroachSquirrel 2003 1d ago
Eh it was a pretty big topic here for a week or two a month ago or so, I had to make a post explaining why generations aren't arbitrary and useless and there was plenty of people older than me
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u/AKscrublord 1d ago
I actually agree with OP on this one and I'm older Gen Z. I obviously have a lot of things to worry about in life, but it doesn't take any effort to hold an opinion, and very little effort to occasionally express it.
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u/PurpleThylacine 2010 1d ago
I think its because im in the class born between 2009-2010 so depsite people growing up the same, they would claim they were a different generation and born in a different decade
Mostly worried this will happen but worse for gen beta
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u/grifxdonut 1d ago
Your 14, if course people are going to be looking at says to differentiate themselves from others. It happens with 1999/2000 too. Even now you go on a date with someone born in 1999 and it's fine but if they're born in 2000, mentally is totally different. It's the she reason everything is sold at 9.99 instead of $10.
The only difference for green beta is that we have people like you at your age getting into internet bubbles who are all agreeing and making you think you're generation is any different from others. In the 50s you were weird if you were from the town 10 minutes away. In the 80s you were weird if you were from the next state over. In 2010 you were weird if you were a non compatible zodiac sign.
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u/JacobSaysMoo56 2007 1d ago
I agree, it’s all gatekeeping. Everyone says the cutoff is the year they were born saying shit like “we were the last good kids” or whatever, and then shit on those younger than them.
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u/Ok_Debt783 2009 1d ago edited 1d ago
I NEED to gate keep being the last year of genZ. /s because getting downvoted
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u/forcesofthefuture 2009 1d ago
same, and tbh our year is ass, but atleast i ain't gen alpha
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u/GuavaDowntown941 1d ago
I think a better way to define generations is by combined lived experiences than year of birth. We sorta get that with generations as they are, but I think it'd be a more accurate way to define people based on what they grew up and or matured with.
I'd be part of the generation that doesn't remember 9/11 but does remember Hurricane Katrina and 2008. Call it the Recession generation. Someone younger than me might not remember the latter two, but might remember the end of the GWOT, the pandemic, and Putin's War in Ukraine. They might be the Pandemic generation. The generation before me might be the Twin Tower generation.
If we wanted to be more positive, we could define generations based off of positive trends, but at the moment those feel a little more difficult to define.
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u/Calradian_Butterlord 1d ago
I think technology changes have a larger impact. I only had a flip phone in high school but I could still get on Facebook at home to post cringe things. I also had a MySpace account for a year or 2 in middle school. In some ways I identify more with millennials and some ways more with gen Z.
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u/BusinessAd5844 On the Cusp 1d ago
Technology doesn't work because there's no universal standard that shifts immediately. Different areas, cultures, socioeconomic factors all play into when something becomes adapted.
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u/PurpleThylacine 2010 1d ago
Ive seen stuff like that
I proposed cutoffs at graduation years but some people get held back or forward
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u/ravens-n-roses 1d ago edited 1d ago
Fun fact, Generations are all marketing demographics. I feel like people internalize this way too much considering it's literally just a branch of capitalism. People try to make it feel more scientific and shit, but at the end of the day it's just about generalizing people born within a 15 year period into an interest group to advertise to. Boomers being the exception and getting like 25 years.
The breakdown of what generations really mean is: Your parents are from (statistically) the generation before the one before you, they will expose you xyz things and interests and values, so we'll expose you to abc advertising, and then as you age and gain interests and values more aligned with uvw, we'll start exposing you to def instead.
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u/BusinessAd5844 On the Cusp 1d ago
Yep and the fact that none of these people realize that there's only one officially recognized generation... Baby Boomers just shows you how stupid this discussion has gotten. It's all semantics.
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u/CrowExcellent2365 1d ago
Found the 2013 baby that wants to be in Gen Z.
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u/PurpleThylacine 2010 1d ago
I have a flair
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u/Bl1tzerX 2004 1d ago
Even gradients have a point where you can distinguish one from another
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u/lXPROMETHEUSXl 1d ago
Came here to say this lmao
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u/Bl1tzerX 2004 1d ago
Yeah there is a website https://ismy.blue/ where it kinda tests where you put turquoise is turquoise more blue or green.
I suggest do it a couple of times and on different devices as that can slightly affect results.
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u/lXPROMETHEUSXl 1d ago
That’s pretty cool, thanks for sharing. I used to do a lot of graphic design, so this stuff interests me lol
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u/31November 1998 1d ago
I feel like it’s mostly your attitude like do you overall hold the same values, frustrations, etc. that your generation generally holds. It roughly corresponds with years, but in the border/transition years, it makes more sense. Obviously not all people are the same. But, since we’re sticking with generalizations (generations), we can generally say that, for example, if Covid-19 disrupted your schooling or first few years of work, you’re sharing a similar frustration as other Gen Z.
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u/iStoleTheHobo 1d ago
You're conflating separate conceptions of the term 'generation.' If you're very curious about all the different definitions we can come up with for the term then just visit the wikipedia page for the term. The conception you take issue with is one popularized by Strauss and Howe in their work, and even in their work it's simply a tool of category since in order to describe something we have to put up a framework of classification.
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u/SoDrunkRightNow4 1d ago
THANK YOU!
It's less about what year, and more about how you grew up. People who live in more rural areas or less developed countries will certainly lag slightly behind in terms of their experiences.
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u/degenerator42069 1995 1d ago
I never felt connected to either of the generations my date fits in. Or I'm the youngest millennial or the oldest zoomer. I'm fucked either way
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u/Mattrockj 2002 1d ago
Generations are less divided by birth date, and more by adaptation to society. someone born in 1996 is older than someone born in 2004, but if the 2004 alligns more with millennial trends, and the 1998 more with Gen Z trends, then they may be different generation. Although the time you're born will MASSIVELY impact your perspective, so while birth dates themselves are less important, the impact of the era they were born into is very important.
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u/AStrangeCharacter 2005 1d ago
When did people start talking about generations? When I was younger I had no idea that people categoried themselves into things lile Gen Z and Gen X and etc
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u/ProfessionalOwn9435 1d ago
When childrean of boomers (large population) come to workforce as milenials (also large population) and companies wanted to target them with things, and use as cheap labour. However their credit score was worse due to Reagon and Bush J. policies, so they couldnt afford all shinny things, and everyone was disappointed including Milenials.
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u/pullmytailplz 1d ago
Born December '94 here, I really don't feel connected to most millennials. I fit in far better with the older Gen Z crowd.
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u/Smalandsk_katt 2008 1d ago
It makes more sense to just use the decade u were born in as a generation. That's how my country does it.
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u/Coydog_ 1995 10h ago
Idk, I spent a lot of my early life being told 95 is the start of Gen Z. That felt right, so I went with it. The vast majority of my friends are older to mid Gen Z for sure, and I happen to have only a solid few Millennials in my circles.
And then the dates started being moved around arbitrarily over and over, and they’re only going to get moved around again the more media thinks we’re all young teens and not like, entering our 30s.
It’s silly, and no one really agrees on a cutoff, so I guess I don't care now. I won’t tell anyone what they can and can’t be. The gradient seems like a nice way to let that happen.
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u/bupkisbeliever 1d ago
weeks are just a gradient stop arguing about days
days are just a gradient stop arguing about hours
hours are just a gradient stop arguing about minutes
minutes are just a gradient stop arguing about seconds
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u/Humble_Mix8626 2004 1d ago
yhea op is mad cus he was called gen alp*a
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u/77Sage77 2003 1d ago
I can see how a lot of people born in those later dates have more similarities to Gen alpha
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u/CockroachSquirrel 2003 1d ago
Except social generations are more of an estimation and not an exact science
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u/bupkisbeliever 1d ago
So is race but the taxonomy still allows a level of granularity so we can speak on the issues with more clarity. Generational divides are not nearly as important as one may think, I agree. Generational analysis pales in comparison to something with more rigor, like economic analysis. However I still think it provides a valuable context when we discuss the experience of different groups of people over time.
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u/CockroachSquirrel 2003 1d ago
Well yeah the study of social generation is important but unless you are studying them arguing about cut off is useless it's best to remember that in the early and late years of a gen there's some overlap and to just not argue if someone born 2012 is gen-z or a
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u/Ordinary_Passage1830 1d ago
I would say they are important for us due to them separating people based on their social and cultural differences.
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u/alreadytakenhacker 2007 1d ago
If you can remember what life before 9/11 was like you are not Gen Z. If you weren't alive when Bush was president you are not Gen Z. period.
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u/MangaMan445 1999 1d ago
By your logic you wouldn't be gen Z either since neither of you remember pre Bush.
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u/PurpleThylacine 2010 1d ago
Its kinda like the people saying the cutoff year is the one right after theirs
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u/HumbleSheep33 Age Undisclosed 1d ago
That’s not what he/she said. Bush was president on 9/11 so based on those criteria that makes no sense.
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u/MangaMan445 1999 1d ago
Being alive for something is irrelevant if you don't remember it when it was happening. 99% of people born in 2007 weren't even 2 when he left office in January '09. They are in the same boat as '10 borns.
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