If you happen to grew up playing Millsberry online with dial-up web and immediately texted your crush while you got your first iPhone in middle school, you is likely to be a “zillenial”.
Millennials (or Generation Y) are adults born between 1981-1996, while Generation Z is those born between 1997-2012.
But some young adults find these tags too rigid because they do not fully match the characteristics of only one generation and as an alternative discover with each.
Thus, the term Zillennial was born.
“They’re on the verge of Gen Z and millennials, hence their urban label.” – Deborah Carr, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Innovation in the Social Sciences at Boston University recently told CNN.
“Being a ‘zillenial’ is weird because the spectrum is so broad,” marketing director Melo Ruswa, who was born in 1996, explained to Glamor UK about microgeneration was born between 1992 and 1998.
“On the one hand, I even have friends who’ve children, are married and are at the top of the profession ladder. On the other hand, there are individuals who are okay with the incontrovertible fact that they still consider what is nice for them,” continued Ruswa. “So balancing each of those desires for youngsters, marriage and a successful profession, but additionally ensuring I live a life that aligns with my values, might be complicated.”
There are some shared life experiences that unite a generation, including life on 9/11, but not enough to recollect where they really were when it happened.
More recently, most millennials can relate to one another by sharing stories of graduating from college or starting their first full-time distant job.
Considered one of the most striking features of the group is their unique relationship with technology: they’ve grown up with the advancement of technology and savvy devices in all their iterations.
This particular micro-generation of young adults needed to take care of each dial-up Web and wired landlines of their adolescence, but quickly switched to high-speed Wi-Fi and iPhones — all before entering highschool.
They remember watching The Little Mermaid on VHS before Hannah Montana: The Movie was released on DVD and listening to The Wiggles on tape just a number of years before downloading the Jonas Brothers to the first generation iPhone.
While they more than likely spent most of their childhood playing outside, they spent their offended teenage years glued to a screen.
Together with the coolest devices, zilliennials were born at the right time to experience all types of web.
They heard about MySpace from their older cousin, they were the first to lie about their age to get a Facebook account, they’re still on Instagram, and they’re just a little late to the TikTok craze.
What really sets Zilliennials other than their older and younger friends, nonetheless, is their purchasing power, in response to PYMNTSfinancial services publication.
A gentle income, a savings account that has collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, and limited spending have given much of the demographic’s strong purchasing power.
While Millennials don’t fully fit either Millennials or Gen Z, there are benefits to understanding each groups.
“At our research center, we have seen that folks like millennials often get a bonus because they have an inclination to make them more aware of each their pre- and post-generations,” Jason Dorsey, generational researcher and president of the Center for Generational Kinetics, told CNN.
But the understanding of each generations has also driven these allies to band together to distinguish themselves from the “cheeky” millennials and “entitled” Gen Z.
“Some generations reject the labels others have given them, and others adopt the name in the event that they feel it suits them, their values or their differences,” Dorsey added.
He noted that millennials have teamed as much as resign the negative stereotypes of each millennials and Gen Z, and embrace the best sides of each generations.
“I would not say I necessarily feel negative about combining the two groups,” said Glamor UK Beth Kirkbride, who was born in 1996. “It was a blessing to give you the chance to decide on which group to belong to at different times, which helped me slot in higher.
“I’d say I’m either Millennials or Generation Z, whichever is less embarrassing at the moment.”