Echo Generation
 

New Name for the Y and Mellium Generes!

20/20 Sun. Night.

More pampered kids, give Me, give, Me ETC!

Missed out being lumped in the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation by three days... underachieving Generation X'er and proud of it! ;) :) :D

I thought Echo was used for a while?? Also, I think Gen Y covers more than just the "Millennials/Echo" because it includes those born in the late 70s and early 80s. Millennials are 1982 or later.

Born in '79, I'm in the tail end of what some call the "baby bust" generation.

No one can decide what to call us. Personally, I like the Simpson's generation idea:

Bart: “Nothing you say can upset us. We’re the MTV generation.”
Lisa: “We feel neither highs or lows.”
Homer: “Really? What’s it like?”
Lisa: “Ehh.” [shrugs]

I think I will just stick with my 1978 born Generation X...it makes me feel better about myself!!! haha I felt they made the Echo Generation look selfish and needy!!

I love this!!! Haha.

Ok, so I didn't watch the show, so maybe someone can help me out....

I was born in the fall of 1980.... What generation am I in and what did they say about us? :p

You're on the bubble between Gen X and Gen Y - the easiest definition between the two comes in your upbringing, specifically your level of Internet usage during your childhood. There is 'active bleed' between the two generations, though, whereby as Y ages and X becomes more 'modern-savvy' the two generations begin sharing some common values.

There's a great example of Gen Y attributes here - you might not agree with wiki here, but it's the best compilation of info I've found.

I've done relatively extensive generational research (durrr job), and I can tell you right now that this thread is a huge eyeroll so far.

Wow, that article was really interesting! :)

I am amazed at how much I really AM right in the middle of X and Y. They talked about things like the internet and the age of people when September 11th happened.

I didn't grow up using the internet, I was in high school when instant messaging and e-mail became widely- used. But I definately know quite alot about it.

I was definately old enough to remember Sept 11 and recognize it's signifigance, but I was not out of school and working. I was in college.

Anyway, just my ramblings. For some reason I would rather associate myself with Gen X than Gen Y. Not sure why... Interesting.

Thanks for posting that link! :)

I wrote an article about the "bubble"/"bridge" generation, published in the Toronto Star back in December....We're too young to have seen Brat Pack movies first run, but definitely remembered where we were when we heard Kurt Cobain died!

While interesting, I think that defining the group as a different generation (as in 'bridge-gen') is implicitly wrong - no offense meant by this, but I think you can isolate those years into one category or another by examining experiential attributes (which leads to what I'm interested in, which are attitudinal attributes). For instance, I think you'll find that many upper-middle-class, suburban youth born in the 1978-82 range wind up with strong ties to Gen Y (even as they have difficulty identifying with those born after 1986). Whether or not the parents were Boomers also plays a significant role in which side of the needle you'll fall - as with everything though, this is such a ridiculously loose generalization that you can identify "sub-groups" with startling regularity . . .

Although I'm sure the research for this article was fascinating - there's so much published about Gen X, and the Gen Y materials are just now coming to fruition.

9th grade... I was in Journalism class.

Interesting thought- that is also exactly where I was when the OJ verdict was shown. We all watched it.

KSig- I think you make some good points.

I definately feel like I don't identify much with the Gen Y kiddos. I picture them being more materialistic and not so in touch and knowledgable about the world. But, I completely realize that this is not true of all of them. I guess it just seems to me that those of us born between like 78 and 82 look at things differently.

Also, my parent's weren't Baby Boomers. At least I don't think they are.... They were born in 59.

Realize that these are all EXTREMELY vague generalizations, mostly having to do with trends in how children are valued/raised over a given timeframe, as well as how general world trends impact youth. You may or may not fit any part of the stereotype - but as the population is taken as a whole, it will inch closer to these types of generalizations (although I disagree with the methodology of some, but I digress).

Also realize that your own personal impressions of those younger than you are shaped by much more than your generational experience, so be careful using terms like 'relate to' and 'knowledgeable'

Good points. Thanks. I hope you don't think I was trying to disagree with you or anything.... I was just making random comments. :)

Another Theory
 

I have posted this a few times before, but I have always been fascinated by demographics so I will share again.

While studying population history at UBC, we used a book entitled Boom, Bust and Echo 2000 by David Foot. While this refers to Canadian generations, it can be applied somewhat to the US as well.

My parents fit into 2 generations: my dad is considered a WWII baby - born between 1945-1949, and my mum is considered a Boomer, born between 1950-1966. The tail end of the boomers, born 1961-1966 are considered Generation X. Because so many children were born in the early 50's, the later boomers got the short end of the stick, so to speak.

Those born between 1967 & 1979 are considered the buster generation - I was born in this time period and it comprises Canada's tiniest generation.

Then there's the boom-echo; those born 1980-1995. Another baby boom, but nothing on the original, but definately a much larger generation than those born in the late 60's-70's.

The millenium babies were born starting 1995 till around now, and I believe 2005 marks the beginning of the Bust-Echo, but I don't have my book in front of me, so I am not entirely positive about that.

Re: Another Theory
 

In the US, most researchers consider the dates you've given to correspond to Boomers (WWII to 1966ish), Gen X (1967ish to 1980ish) and Gen Y (1981ish to late 90s, also called the 'echo boom') - the post-1998 data is incomplete and will not be able to be read until far later.

Note that the time frames for these generations are shrinking; this has interesting ramifications I won't get into unless people really want to discuss this, but I felt it important to state that the 'alternate theory' you're showing is actually quite similar to the other models.