The New Normal (circa 2010)

This video has been floating around my office and the twitter and blogosphere now for a few weeks. It's one of the most beautifully done/packaged research bits I've seen. Informative and easy to watch.

We All Want to Be Young from box1824 on Vimeo.

Here are the points I found most interesting and why:

1. Gen X was the boss of their bedroom. This wasn't a huge point in the video and you could have missed it easily. But just this past weekend as I was visiting my parents for Turkey Day, I read an article in my hometown newspaper, The Richmond Times Dispatch from The Wall Street Journal titled, "Who's the Boss? Sorry, Kids. It Isn't You." by Jeff D. Opdyke. It was about the power today's tweens have.... more and more they are empowered key decision makers among their family. Perhaps then, if Gen X was the boss of their own bedroom, Gen Y is now the boss of the entire house. An interesting shift. This car commercial for the 2011 Highlander really gets at the driving the new TWEEN decision making paradigm. "Just because you're a parent, doesn't mean you have to be lame."

2. Gen Y is more hyperbolic. It's never been easier to fit in but it's certainly never been harder to stand out. It's an interesting balance that continues to be difficult for teens/tweens to deal with. But is this true? Or is it that there have always been hyperbolic tweens/teens and now, more than ever, they are getting our attention through various forms of media... Is it a certain type of kid that seeks out the attention of media and thus has that innate capacity for hyperbole and "acting."

3. Gen X was more competitive. The web has arguably taught us the importance of and power in collaboration. I think the West Coast Jerkin' movement proved that Gen Y really understands the concept of collaboration.

4. Being normal has become boring. I guess they will all become advertisers huh? Kiiidddding. I'm not exactly sure what normal ever really meant but I guess in many ways it meant being conventional (however that was prescribed by your geographic region or high school cliques). It is interesting and fascinating that Gen Y is exposed to more ideas, more people, more concepts, more cultures, etc. etc. And as a result, as the video said, their identities transcend where they are from and it's now cool to know and be various things at the same time. That isn't just Gen Y though. Technically I am Gen Y and that certainly wasn't the case when I was in high school. Also, this concept makes me wonder what does that mean for tribes. While out of vogue, are they dead forevermore? They say things are cyclical. Is this another instance of that? Or do they still exist in certain capacities? Still thinking through this one through...

5. Gen Y is uniting work and pleasure. This is so true. We did a Brooklyn field trip at work and people are seriously making things. With platforms like etsy and the web at large, it's never been easier to combine work and pleasure. Levi's and Jeep got it right in their recent campaigns (we are all workers and the things we make, make us). PBS has a special I accidentally watched one night called Roadtrip Nation that calls itself a movement designed to inspire teens/tweens to "define your own road in life." Here is a video about it but the point is, you see this spirit everywhere right now. I think Gen Y grew up being told they could do anything and be anything if they worked hard and put their mind to it. Only seems natural that they would want and seek to blur the line between pleasure and play.