Swamped with student debt, struggling to climb the housing ladder and feeling betrayed by the Brexit result, it’s easy to understand why the finger-pointing rift between the younger and older generations is bigger than it’s ever been.
This growing disconnect came to a head last week when the Twitter-sphere descended into full intergenerational warfare with the emergence of #HowToConfuseAMillennial. The millennial mocking hashtag started as a light-hearted joke about generational differences but soon turned dark when members of the Baby Boomers and Gen X generations began using it as a means of attacking the younger generations on anything from their ‘digital-obsession’ to their ‘apparent dislike of employment’.
The hashtag struck a nerve and before long the fightback was on. Unsurprisingly, on a platform controlled by a millennial majority, this resulted in the posts of their parents and grandparents being relentlessly swamped with replies, many of which pointing out the irony of their use of social media to make their argument.
This generation clash brings to light the significant pre- and misconceptions existing across generations. It is, therefore, a timely occurrence that our The Future of Generations research project launches this Friday, tackling these generational myths head on and finding out what perceptions these groups of consumers actually hold.
Keep an eye out for hot off the press The Future of Generations results being circulated soon.
