I was born in 1980.
Some say that means I belong to the
Generation X. Others believe this
makes me a millennial and thus a
member of Generation Y - a
frustrating state of affairs if you are
like me and prefer things to be all
neat and tidy.
Anyone born between 1977 and 1985
will know this problem. These nine
years are not enough to qualify as a
separate generation, but many who
are born during that time never quite
feel like they belong. And they have
every reason to think that.
Those born in the early 1980's
- call them "Xennials" - had an
analog childhood and a digital
adulthood
The years of our birth lie between
two huge generations. We had to
bridge the divide between an analog
childhood and digital adulthood and
we are reminded of this day after
day. We live with one foot in
Generation X and one in Generation
Y. This is an uncomfortable position -
and we aren't fond of it.
But there is a simple solution: We
can call ourselves a micro-
generation. We are not Gen-Xers. We
are not millennials. We are in
between, we are Xennials.
Nobody quite knows who first coined
that term. For a long time it was
falsely attributed to the Australian
sociologist Dan Woodman . Author
Sarah Stankorb claims first use of the
word in an Essay for the Magazin
"Good" in 2014. But whoever came
up with it, the term really nails it.
Young Xennials played
outdoors and couldn't text their
friends
Like the Gen-Xers, as children we
played outdoors, engaged in games
we made ourselves, a long time
before the advent of gaming
consoles. We made macramé
bracelets for our friends and wrote
each other postcards.
We couldn't coordinate meetups with
friends by text, chat or WhatsApp.
We had to pick up the receiver, call
their house, introduce ourselves to
their parents and persuade them to
hand the phone to our friend. This
sometimes felt like dodging obstacles
in Mario Land's boss fights.
I once had the father of a friend tell
me: "I'm sorry but I can't bother
Susan right now. She's watching
Emergency Room." I spent nearly
half an hour explaining the one-
sentence message I wanted him to
relay to her.
Xennials may have used
Hotmail, but also navigate
social media like they were
born into it
But then they arrived: The first
cellphones.
Finally we had a way of contacting
our friends without having to go
through their parents first. We
joyfully commenced texting and
texting and texting. That led to a
horrendous phone bill, which was
met with less than joyful responses
by our parents, but that is a story for
another day.
Our fist computers were either Intels,
286 or 486, or the Commodore
Amiga. Our first video games came
on floppy disks. They were played
with the keyboard or a joystick. Oh
how I loved the Winter Games or
Prince of Persia!
My first email address ended with
@hotmail.com. And do you
remember the racket the old
modems used to make!?
Nowadays we use social media like
we were born to do it. But we can
remember a life without them. Our
earliest childhood is recorded on
Super-8 tapes that are barely even
legible today. I feel for all the kids
who will have to relive their potty
successes and failures in full HD in a
few years.
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We grew up without the stress of
being constantly photographed,
filmed or location tracked. Pictures
of our childhood were never posted
on Facebook.
As we were growing up, technology
matured along side us. We had time
to get used to it and were still young
enough to feel right at home with it.
Those born in the early 1980's
are neither depressed like Gen
Xers or overly optimistic like
millennials
Our childhood was peaceful. The
Cold War that had terrified
Generation X was already almost
over by the time we were born. It did
not concern us. We heard of the Iraq
war and the conflict in the Balkans,
but both of those still seemed very
far away. It was nothing compared to
the war in Afghanistan that was very
present in the mind of young
millennials.
Our most important conflicts were
about whether we wore Buffalos or
skater shoes, or if we listened to
Green day or Oasis.
It follows that the psychological
makeup of the typical Xennial should
lie somewhere between the typical
millennial and the members of Gen
X, according to Professor Woodman
of the University of Melbourne. He
told Mamamia that they were
"between the Gen X group - who we
think of as the depressed flannelette-
shirt wearing, grunge-listening
children that came after the Baby
Boomers, and the millennials - who
get described as optimistic, tech
savvy and maybe a little bit too sure
of themselves and too confident."
Or in other words: Xennials are
neither depressed nor overly
optimistic. We hold the optimal
balance.
All things considered, it's not
frustrating to be sandwiched
between two generations. In fact, I
would say we managed to be born at
the perfect time.


http://www.businessinsider.com/people-born-between-gen-x-millennials-xennials-2017-11?IR=T