“Sorry, I’m not a millennial,” said 19-year-old University of Ottawa student Justin Chu. “People born after 2000 are millennials.”
The exact time period that defines who millennials are is up for debate among young people and experts themselves.
Neil Howe and William Strauss, the authors of the Strauss-Howe generational theory, coined the term “millennial” in 1991. According to their theory, millennials are people born between 1980 and 2000.
However, Statistics Canada calls the millennial generation “children of the baby boomers” who were born between 1972 and 1992.
According to Statistics Canada, millennials are also referred to as generation Y, or the “echo of the baby boom.”
Those born after 2000 are typically called generation Z, and are not considered millennials.
Chu said he didn’t know the millennial generation included such a large age range.
“My boss is in her 30s but I could swear we are millenniums apart,” Chu said.
Opinion on this generation is divided.
If you Google the “millennial generation,” you’ll find millions of opinion pieces and studies decrying the monstrosity of millennials and their addiction to social media, their laziness, and naive dreams about saving the world. You’ll also find a few that tout the good qualities of millennials, like Time Magazine’s 2013 piece “Why millennials will save us all.”
Matthew Brook, an elementary school teacher and part of the millennial generation, said his parents have negative reservations about millennials.
“I’m 34—my parents always say they’re thankful I’m not a millennial,” Brook said. “They say millennials are lazy and that I’m so hard working because I’m not one.”
Brook said he sees a distinct divide between his generation and younger ones.
“From teaching I can already see how different these kids are going to be from the millennials and I hope they are just as motivated,” Brook said.
Howe and Strauss wrote that usually a generation mindset sticks and impacts the majority.
Gabriela Smith, a first-year Queen’s concurrent education student, said social media is important to her because it links her with her friends at all times, despite the distance between them.
“I only use Instagram and Snapchat because my friends do. I really like it though, because it connects us wherever we are,” Smith said.
Greg Habjj is a millennial who works at an Ottawa bank. He said he thinks millennials have to know a lot more about technology than previous generations in order to function in the workplace.
“We are constantly learning and adapting to new uses of technology. People who don’t know are incapable of working,” Habjj said.
According to a 2015 consumer study done by Forbes and Elite Daily, 87 per cent of millennials use between two and three different tech devices every day. The study also said 39 per cent of millennials will probably purchase a tablet computer in the next five years, and 30 per cent will purchase a wearable technology device.
Sofia Acosta, an 18-year-old photographer working at the CN Tower, said she buys at least two new pieces of technology every year and is constantly updating the software on her devices.
“Every few months I’m at Best Buy buying something new, whether it’s a new piece for my camera, or a tablet, or even a laptop. On top of that I am constantly updating my multimedia editing software as well as basic desktop software,” Acosta said.
Savannah Greene, a second-year Carleton criminology student, said her whole life is stored in her phone, and she spends a lot of time on social media.
“Ninety per cent of my day is spent on my phone,” Greene said.
The study also found 33 per cent of millennials rely on blogs for advice about things they want to buy, and 67 per cent are more likely to buy products if a brand interacts with them on social media.
“I try to look at online reviews and the advice of Youtubers before making major purchases,” Greene said.
Tovah Bloomfield, a first-year Carleton political science student and part of the millennial generation, said she thinks millennials have to work harder than most other generations.
“I think that we are going to be one of the most hard-working generations because we have to work twice as hard as any generation and learn to fix all the past problems of each generation,” Bloomfield said. “Nowadays we need to have a masters degree just to be taken seriously, so education is so important.”
