Note that this article has been updated to also include some of the private discussions with thought leaders in the past. You can read my final overview of my research into the Millennial generation along with what I predicted and what happened as they matured at this link. While I still speak about Echo Boomers and iGenZ privately, I seldom add new articles to this specific blogspot site. If you're reaching out about a speaking engagement, you can contact me at the research firm SqlinSix.
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I explain in this article why I refer to Generation Z members as iGenZ. Like Echo Boomers, I generally refer to the title of the generation as Generation Z (like Generation Y as the title for Echo Boomers).
Basic Introduction
Many of the regular readers know all about Generation Y [updated link] , but may wonder about the following generation: Generation Z. The next fifteen year generation completed its final year of birth (2011), and will be coming of age over the next few decades. What we know about Generation Z at this time is that it's not as large as Generation Y, it only knows about a world with the internet, and it will face a dismal economic picture.
One potential inaccurate statistic that I'll state is that Generation Z is smaller than Generation Y. I state this without numbers because Generation Y is 80 to 86 million strong, whereas kids born from 1994 to 2004 (most of which are Generation Z, though it goes seven years after that date) are only 23 million strong. Numerically speaking, even if the remaining 7 years of Generation Z doubled the first 8 years, it still wouldn't be larger than Generation Y (23 + 46 = 69). On top of this, with the economy current performing poorly, many people (especially Echo Boomers [updated link]!) have delayed family formation: in fact, that's one of the things I write about on this blog. This has sucked some size from Generation Z.
The Millennial generation may not realize this, but many of its members can still recall a world without the internet. They can recall doing research by going to the library and searching manually through a database (gosh, I can remember looking through the actual cards!). The world has completely changed now: with the rise of the internet, Wikipedia, Google and some specialized blogs have become the major source of information, along with electronic news. Generation Z only knows the internet, as the youngest iGenZ (born in 1996) would have been born in a world already with the internet. And about the time these early iGenZ became fully conscious, the internet was becoming widespread. The effects of this fact remain to be seen: I cannot theorize at this time what this will mean for Generation Z. This is one reason that you will sometimes see me refer to Generation Z as iGenZ.
The United States as an economic superpower has declined rapidly over the last decade and this will have a major influence on both Generation Y and Z. Some young members of Generation Y might be able to recall a low national debt and a major surplus (2000), while this is completely foreign to Generation Z as they come of age. This change won't just affect the political spectrum and how iGenZ votes, but it will affect how iGenZ conducts business. The attitudes toward frugality may amp up in this generation if financial factors do not significantly change for the United States soon.
Technology Native
Since iGenZ only know of a world with the internet, we may feel tempted to think they will spend more time on the internet than Echo Boomers. I predict this early, as iGenZ will have early access to the internet in their life. However, we don't require technology as humans. I do not know if the over abundance of technology may shift attitudes toward it. In the same way that Echo Boomers often dislike big companies from previous generations, iGenZ may later dislike technology companies that Echo Boomers loved. We all forget that youth can reject the ideas and behaviors of older generations. This is part of how humanity progresses.
For the present time, iGenZ will heavily use the internet. They will also heavily trust what they see, read or hear on the internet. What happens as they age? We'll see and it's a trend I'll be watching carefully.
Lacking Basic Critical Thought
One iGenZ pattern I've recently made public involves their inability to critically think on a basic level. I've observed this on basic critical thought, not advanced. For an example, taking information about energy in the physical and developing an understanding of how that will affect economic perspectives of trade and value involves synthesizing a broad amount of information that seems unrelated. (Most members of iGenZ will have no idea what I just wrote here.) We all know that this is part of our mind's glory: we can take unrelated information and see patterns, make predictions, and execute on these with success.
However, many members of iGenZ struggle to apply relatedinformation. Consider what I just wrote. We're not talking about a step that involves sythesis or integrated thinking. We're talking basic understanding. An abundance of information (the internet) leads to a lack of execution and an inability to think, even in the information one has. You can see this with iGenZ. Every now and then I'll meet an impressive member of iGenZ, but he (and it's almost always a "he") is only impressive because of his lack of access to his mobile phone and internet. For an example, I once met an iGenZ member who was running three registers at the gas station. When I asked why, he replied that his colleagues called in sick. He was doing the work of three people. But most of his peers would have simply used that as an excuse to surf social media on their phone and distract themselves with non-work related information.
The internet, search engines, and some applications of AI are making this problem worse. At our research firm, we've cautioned people that if you don't practice imagination, then you won't know how to think, but only what to think. We note reading is one way to practice imagination, but that's not the only way (one can stare at the wall for an entire day and this activity will also engage their imagination). Either way, if you work with iGenZ, you'll frequently see this pattern.
