“We were the last kids to make it all the way to grown up without pervasive technology. We were the first twenty-somethings to learn how to use iPods and internet on our phones, how to text and online date. We straddle a gap, exist between two worlds, and have, in some ways, lived two separate lives instead of one. And that, I think, earns us our own title (at the very least).”
If that rings a bell in your head or strikes a chord in your heart, or both, then you’re probably a “Xennial”, the definition of someone who was born between 1977 and 1983.
Wedged between the Gen X (1961 – 1981) and the Gen Y aka Millennials (1980s – early 2000s), a Xennial is a cusp, existing between 2 demographic cohorts. As such, not many people born between 1981 and 1997 identify themselves as part of either Gen X or Gen Y.
Xennials grew up during an unique time as our childhood was largely without the internet or social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) and mobile phones, but we would later learn to adapt to the then foreign technology boom. It was when watching “Friends” and (actual cassette) mix tapes were a thing and “call waiting” was either godsend or a nuisance for disconnecting you from your dial-up modem.
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“It was a time when we had to organise to catch up with our friends on the weekends using the landline, and actually pick a time and a place and turn up there.”
Previously, this group was “neither here not there”, and 7 years is too short to define a generation. But now, this belonging means that Xennials enjoy the best of both worlds. Not sure if you fit the bill? Take this quiz to find out if you’re a Xennial.
Sources: Mama Mia, did you know? / Featured image: NBC.
