Research and Analysis

A brief history of Social Media

To understand how social media has affected the generations, first, the timeline of social media must be understood, as to connect and compare it with the timeline of the generations and how they use it.

Since social media is based off of the Internet, the Internet is the first thing that had to be created to initiate everything. Many components of the Internet were created in the late 20th century, and the World Wide Web was released in 1991, and in 1993, it was announced that it was free for everyone to use. After this, social media was able to be created.

In 1997, the first social media was created by Andrew Weinreich. This was called Six Degrees, and it was a website where people could make a profile and connect with other users. This lasted until 2001.

After this, in the 2000s, there was a boom in creating many new social networks, that are still used today. A few especially popular ones are:

2003- Linkedin, Skype, MySpace
2004- Facebook
2005- Reddit, Youtube
2006-Twitter

These websites were computer based, but in 2007, there was the release of the iPhone, and soon, a boom in the usage of smartphones.

This leads to the creation of many new medias that were originally smartphone-based.

Many new medias were released in the 2010s. Some of the most popular included:

2010- Instagram, Pinterest
2011- Snapchat, Google+
2013 Vine
2014-Musical.ly
2017- Tiktok

These new medias were more smartphone-based and were more focused on sharing images and videos. Now almost all social medias are accessible on computer or smartphone, and are used by millions of people, posting millions of posts each day. Through the years each media has developed its own structure and became a place to share many things, including news. It is important to note how fast social media developed and became popular, all within the last 20 years, as this may cause differences among generations, that will be discussed below.

The Generations

Here the discussion will focus on the most talked-about, prominent generations of the 21st century, including:

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)
- No social media as children
Generation X (born 1965-1980)
- No social media as children, some as younger adults
Millennials/Generation Y (born 1981-1995)
- Had social media as children and teens
Generation Z (born 1996-2015)
- Had social media since birth

The discussion will be mainly based on the presence of social media during the childhoods and developmental periods of each generation, so it can be seen if social media had any effect in forming their beliefs and values. Although much of Generation Z is not adults yet, analysis can be done based on the older half of the generation, of young adults and teens, who already may show shared generational characteristics.

Characteristics and Effect of Media on Each Generation

Each generation has its own general shared characteristics that are often observed. Each generation is not defined by these and each person is different, however, through statistics gathered through studies and surveys cited below, these are the most common characteristics that they share. Seeing the rise of social media, there is the question of whether social media has affected any of these characteristics.

Baby Boomers

Characteristics :

Boomers have been noted to generally be optimistic, loyal people that value success and are very serious about their jobs, and they are noted as "workaholics" who are very dedicated to completing their goals. Boomers are also known to be entitled, self-absorbed people, that do not need validation from others, as they prefer to be the decision-makers. Boomers are also not very open-minded when it comes to progressive issues involving diversity.

What may have affected these characteristics?

Historical events such as the Vietnam War, and the economic prosperity past World War II, may have affected the optimistic, entitled personalities of Boomers, as well as their willingness to work and motivation that the work they are doing is worth it.
Focusing on the play of media, Boomers did not have Internet as children, and were able to focus on their current lives, as they were not constantly being flooded with new information, and were able to focus on enjoying what they have and doing well in their jobs. This may explain their work values and dedication to their beliefs.
Boomers did not have access to social media as children, and their main news sources were the local newspapers and broadcasting stations. This would be their only access to the news, which they would likely see once or twice a day. Since this was the only source, it was prone to biases and did not show people many different perspectives of what was going on in the world, so this may have set certain values that were limited to what the news stations showed. This may be why Boomers are not as open-minded as other generations.

Generation X

Characteristics:

Generation X mainly shares characteristics of being creative, fun-loving people, who are independent and self-reliant. They value a work-life balance and are more flexible and informal about it, having a more cynical and suspicious view towards work than Boomers. They also are more in favor of diversity than Boomers, although less than Millennials.

What may have affected these characteristics?

Historical events such as economic uncertainties, the AIDS epidemic, the End of the Cold War, and many government scandals may feed into their cynical ideas and distrust of corporations.
Focusing on media, Generation X did not have social media as children, however technology was more progressed so they may have had slightly more access to diverse news sources, and may have lived in a more negative media world than Boomers.
Although they did not have social media as children, they did have social media as younger adults in their 20's and 30's, only starting their careers. Although many values are developed in childhood, being younger at the time of social media and a time where information was more accessible through the Internet, may have still played into their more cynical views, seeing more of what was going on in the world than Boomers did at that age, which may also be why they are slightly more open-minded, although not as much as younger generations.

Millennials (Generation Y)

Characteristics:

Millennials are known to have high self-esteem, be entitled, optimistic, collaborative people, who accept diversity and are open-minded. They value a work-family balance, but are entrepreneurial and ambitious. What sticks out from previous generations is that that are result-oriented, impatient, answer-seeking, tech savvy, multi-taskers, who need instant feedback and gratification, and put a lot into social networking.

What may have affected these characteristics?

Historical factors may include growing up with events such as 9/11, Columbine, and a post-Cold War era, but also being in a place of economic prosperity.
Media-wise, they are the first generation really affected by social media as children, as they were teens and children when social media blew up and became accessible, and were able to use it as their main source of communication with the world at a young age.
This exposed them to much more news sources than previous generations, and seeing people post things online, allowed them to see different types of people and perspectives, so this may explain why they are much more open-minded and accepting of diversity.
As they were kids with access to the Internet and Social Media, this may explain their need for instant feedback and gratification, and their result-oriented, impatient minds. They had the Internet at their hands, so they have the answers at their fingers constantly. Having people commenting at their posts and liking images, explains the need for the instant feedback and gratification even in places outside of media. They have always had someone telling them instantly how they feel about posts, so their brains are wired for instant responses and validation.

Generation Z

Characteristics:

Generation Z is seen as independent, skeptical, cynical, truth-seekers, that are realistic and pragmatic. They are ambitious, competitive, entrepreneurial, and well-educated. They want to contribute to world, are politically progressive, and value individuality and diversity. They are task-oriented, tech savvy, multi-tasking people that expect easy quick, access to information and want instant feedback. They also have many mental health issues compared to previous generations.

What may have affected these characteristics?

Historical factors may include that they were born into a Post-9/11 world, with economic issues, political polarization, and foreign wars, and are now young, experiencing a pandemic, which may play into the cynicism.

Media-wise, they were born into world of Internet and Social Media. They have always had access to the Internet as children and have grown watching social media not just be developed, but change and update. Most use social media daily, and have the world at their hands. From a young age, they have had access to a wide variety of media sources and seeing people post many things, have had an extremely wide source of varying perspectives. They have the news constantly at their fingers and constantly see what things are happening all over the world. All of this may lead to the reason that they are more cynical and realistic about life, seeing all that really goes on, and want to know the truth. Seeing all these perspectives allows them to value diversity more, and want to be politically involved in making change in the world. This may also lead to the mental health issues, as seeing all of this information constantly flooding their heads may cause anxiety and stress about what is going on. Since they have the world at their fingertips, and constantly posting online, this may be why they are good at multitasking and have a need for feedback and want information quickly, as their brains are wired to have this information coming at them quickly from these various medias.