INTERNET GENERATION

In the Generations theory of William Strauss and Neil Howe, the 'Internet generation' is used to denote the sub-generation branching off later-born members of Generation Y and early born members of what they call the The New Silent Generation (usually known as Generation Z), immediately following the Echo Boom Generation.^[1] Born since the explosion of the home computer market in the mid-to-late 1990s, the defining cultural-historical event to distinguish this cohort is that its members spent their formative years in an age of the rise of the World Wide Web. Thus, the Internet Generation usually has no recourse to a memory of (or nostalgia for) a pre-Internet history. The "iGeneration"^[2] or "MySpace Generation",^[3] as it is also called, takes the Internet for granted as part of the 'natural order of things,' accepting the utility of services such as internet forums, email, Wikipedia, search engines, MySpace, Facebook, imageboards and YouTube.
This emergent media ecosystem is a key factor in the historical formation for this cohort. One can compare this situation to those who grew up with TV versus those for whom TV was a new development (which they could choose to watch or ignore so that the statement "I don't watch TV" becomes a relevant identity marker). Emerging within a paradigm shift that changed how humans relate to each other and how both virtual and real communities form within globalization, the Internet Generation therefore cannot be lumped together with previous generations. The term "iGeneration" (a phrase said to be coined by underground alternative rock/rapper MC Lars) draws from the popularity of technologies such as the iPod and connotes the paradoxical simultaneity of both 'ear bud insularity' and relatively blasé attitudes about the loss of private space since the rise of the Internet and, in particular, YouTube, where Andy Warhol's '15 minutes of fame' prophecy has been literalized. Tellingly, "You" was voted Time Magazine Person of the year for 2006 while YouTube was named Invention of the Year.
''New York Magazine's report on the Internet generation emphasized their lack of privacy, expectation of speaking to an audience even in personal communication, and a familiarity with harsh, anonymous criticism.^[4] While there is no consensus on what to call this generation, if the terms are combined, there is a pervasive sense in the media that the generation is distinct from Generation Y.^[5]
The term "Generation Now" has been used as well,^[6] to reflect the urge for instant-gratification that technology has imparted.^[7]
Other terms that have been used in conjunction with this generation include:

★ Generation D (for "Digital")^[8]

★ Generation M^[9]

★ Millennials^[10]

★ Google generation

Contents

References

References

1. Internet generation riding technological wave into the future, ''Arizona Star'' (AP story)
2. The iGeneration In Depth. BBC News
3. The MySpace Generation, BusinessWeek, 12 December 2005
4. ''New York Magazine''. Kids, the Internet, and the End of Privacy: The Greatest Generation Gap Since Rock and Roll. 12 February 2007
5. ''Generation Now'' (12/2006) ''Metro Times''
6. '' My 3 yr old is Generation Now'' (posted 1/2007)
7. ''Talking to Generation Now'' (November 14, 2006)
8. http://www.wordspy.com/words/GenerationD.asp
9. '' The new needs of "Generation M" hit the Belgian market'' (2002 report)
10. ''Watching the Watchers'', ''Newsweek'', 17 July 2006