Generation X is Stuck in the 1980s

Generation X, the generation I am a part of, grew up in a world of imminent nuclear disaster and high unemployment.

The jobs we wanted were filled with the vast hordes of babyboomers: still in the workforce, protected by strict employment laws.

Generation Y, the topic of many ‘social networking’ [eyeballs, and therefore marketing-types] are entering a world were jobs are more plentiful; and will continue to choose their own jobs.

A downside is a tax burden they will have keeping the older generation

There are many social impacts with these changes.

One concern us Generation Xers have with online personas and profiles is the impact of potential negative pictures and posts being used by potential employers. In the future, the power will lie in the hands of the employees.

Our Brain Wiring is Evolving

Talking to the great Michael Stoddart (Stod) around the proverbial water cooler, he stated that under-25’s don’t learn the same way as us Generation-X and cusp-Baby Boomers.

Rather than learn by rote the ins-and-outs of a “new thing”, the Generation-Y’s remember the tags and “where to access” the information – knowing that if they ever need the information in the future, they’ll use the “tags” to grab the info.

Also, Generation-Y are experienced with the media-savvy breadth of info, and know how to “filter” out the noise.

Last week, Uncle Mike asked about my “take” on tags.

Now I get it – “tags” are a memory access method, a digital mnemonic.

Rote learning just doesn’t work in a stream-of-media world.

I’d love to get into the understanding of Learning; time doesn’t permit so I’ll tag it, and move on.