THE generation Z is composed of those who were born in first decade of the 21st century. Because there is no exactness in the accounting of time in relation to the appearance of different generations, we can consider as Generation Z those who were born in the late 1990s. The most striking thing about this generation is its intimate relationship with technology and the digital environment, considering that it was born at a time of greater technological expansion provided by the popularization of Internet.
Read too: Cyberbullying – aggressive practice of intimidation and harassment in a virtual environment
Generations X, Y and Z
The internet was designed to be a US military communication network, still in the decade of 1960, and whoever was born at that time belongs to the generation baby boomer. At that time, computers were still large machines that needed deep specialized knowledge to operate.
What happened in the decades of 1970 and 1980 it was one drastic change in the way computers were thought
. From machines used by the military and specialized scientists, computers have become increasingly versatile, smaller and intuitive. Much of this revolution is due to the American company Apple, which dedicated itself to making these machines aesthetically pleasing, as well as easily manageable.It was in this medium that generation X emerged. daughter of Babyboomers, a generation X understand the people who were born among the late 1960s and mid 1980s. They are people who saw the informational technological revolution happen, who experienced the Cold War, who saw the arms race and who feared a possible return to a war as horrible as or worse than the Second World War.
Generation X did not immediately accept what their parents projected as an ideal of life:
- get a good job
- buy a house
- form a family
It was in Generation X that things started to change, maybe because of the disbelief in the old social structures formed by previous generations.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
In the 1980s, the internet was already used in banking and financial networks. In 1990, the English physicist and computer scientist Tim Burns Lee created the World Wide Web (WWW) system, which finally made the internet a navigable place for anyone literate, with a minimum access to the network and basic knowledge of computer operation.
The proximity to the internet and information technology made the Generation Y the germ of a new fully connected society. It is true that not everyone has access to the network, the internet or any communication interface, such as a computer or smartphone, and this reveals a peculiar situation of Generation Y and subsequent generations: we are talking about a small portion of the population that has access to the network, the internet and technology.
Generation Y is the one that arises in a growing range of connection (still extremely restricted - not that today there are no restrictions on internet access, but today this happens for strictly economic reasons), but that he was born and lived in a moment of great technological expansion. Also called millennials (because they were born around the turn of the millennium), this generation, which is between 20 and 35 years old, represents a complete revolution compared to past generations.
These are people who have pushed the changes initiated by Generation X to their limits. This generation lives in a completely unstable world, where fluctuations in the financial market and other symptoms of capitalism belated promote a competitive and extremely unequal world. On the one hand, the millennialsdon't have much expectation of a safe life. On the other hand, the more affluent are able to extend their power through innovation and what they call entrepreneurship.
THE generation Z was the first that was born in a completely digital environment. They are those who were born between the late 1990s and 2010. This generation did not need, like the previous ones, to take basic computer courses to deal with computers.
Read too: fake news – how did they come about and what are the dangers?
Generation Z Characteristics
Also called digital natives, who was born in Generation Z has a intimate relationship with the digital world, with the internet and with information technology. They are people who grew up playing video games, who have closely followed technological innovations and who like to consume these innovations when possible.
It's a generation that doesn't usually create many lasting bonds with people. They are people who have learned to relate through social networks and apps, who avoid leaving the house. When they can, they use services delivery so they don't need to leave. This also evidences a strong characteristic of this generation: the social inequality.
While some use services delivery in order not to leave the house, others have to work for the delivery, showing another striking factor in the world inhabited by millennials and digital natives: the increasing dissolution of employment relationships (and, with it, the dissolution of labor rights), which imposes on poorer workers (who are, today, young people from generations Y and Z) an exhausting routine, low pay and the false idea that they are entrepreneurs.
Generation Z grew up in a inhospitable environment and complete insecurity about the future. A university degree, for example, which was meant to be a good job for Generation X, is no longer of value. The world is marked by high competitiveness and lack of employment. Socialization through the internet has led to a new social configuration for this generation and new consumption habits. The internet, which is no longer that network accessible only at home by computers, has become a constant companion through smartphones.
This combination of elements demonstrates the molds of Generation Z. a generation that grew up used to individuality and technology. A generation that, in the case of the poorest, realized social inequality due to the fact that it cannot access the same spaces as the upper class. The upper class of Generation Z, daughter of Generation X, also perceives these contradictions in the contemporary world. Some revolt and make the internet the interface of a political struggle, and others (most of the middle-class Generation Z or high) are inebriated by the high technological connectivity in which they are immersed, used to receiving everything ready from the country.
See more: Zygmunt Bauman – sociologist who studied the liquidity of relationships, a determining feature of Generation Z
Generation Z and Babyboomers
You Babyboomers are the people who were born between the end of World War II and the 1960s. These people took a much more stable world that rebuilt itself after the war. Because it is a world of reconstruction and a certain stability, there was a significant increase in the number of babies born, hence the expression Babyboomer, derived from Babyboom (babies explosion).
You Babyboomers are the generation still mostly alive that more contrasts with generation Z. Compared to Generation Z youth, they are extremely different culturally — are not used to technology and much less are they fond of Generation Z's volatility with regard to employment and love life.
Generation Z in the job market
Generation Z has entered the workforce in recent years. For most of these young people, what awaits them is the underemployment and exploitation because of the high competitiveness and the growing flexibility of laws and labor relations. The call "uberization”|1| of services is increasingly common among application drivers and delivery people. The intermittent contracts, services per day (day laborers) and other ways of exploiting work in such a way as not to generate a burden for companies and generate a lot of damage to workers.
This situation is common among the lower layers. of the population. The middle class is privileged for not being hostage to this system and the upper class is the owner of the system. Between the middle and upper class the number of people working with the digital content production. Be it school content, finance, fashion and various forms of art, be it the most futile content that exposes a daily empty of meaning and full of money, people with better financial conditions are increasingly making their careers offering this digital content via social networks and YouTube. This new niche is something never imagined by a Babyboomer, viewed with suspicion by Generation X and understood only from the millennials.
Note
|1| Neologism created in reference to a taxi service app. The uberized work is that in which the worker does not have an employment relationship with the company for which he/she provides services, and also does not have rights guaranteed, and receiving a low remuneration and generally proportional to productivity and that gives the false idea that the worker is an entrepreneur of himself same.
by Francisco Porfirio
Sociology Professor
