Round 2 with Millennials

The generation known as Millennials (roughly, those born between 1982 and the late 90s) were already examined by authors Morley Winograd and Michael Hais (not to be confused with Michael “PS” Hays), when they predicted they would change the way American politics worked. After that prediction seemed to come true following the 2008 elections, they figured they’d take a second look at them.

Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America attempts to go beyond the influence on politics and into things like business, technology, education, and entertainment. Not mere observations, the authors use current data to support their findings. It should be an interesting look for those interested in generation studies, politics, or social sciences.

 

Book of the Day

There seems to be a big push to understand the Millennial generation on this campus.  Millennials, formerly called Generation Y, are also the first generation of Digital Natives.  Approaching the generation from that point of view, as having always been exposed to advanced computer technology since birth, may help “Digital Immigrants” (anyone born before) understand what its like.  Me, I’m a Digital Native as well, and I’m currently reading our new book, Born Digital: Understanding the first generation of Digital Natives by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser.  For professors, its good to understand something you may not be familiar with (because as stated before, I’m a faculty member who falls into this category, and more of us are coming). Students on either side of the age category might want to read this to either gain some insight into the younger generation or to understand perceptions of your own generation. I’m curious to see what others have to say.