I'm 1962. That's roughly GenX-10 or so. Awkward. Early '60's babies have pretty much no cultural constituency, eg., we were old enough to hate disco, but we get treated like we invented it. 😑.
Anyway, I'm reading about how you define your role in new media and I keep thinking of my Mass Media, Journalism, and Comms profs trying to define…
I'm 1962. That's roughly GenX-10 or so. Awkward. Early '60's babies have pretty much no cultural constituency, eg., we were old enough to hate disco, but we get treated like we invented it. 😑.
Anyway, I'm reading about how you define your role in new media and I keep thinking of my Mass Media, Journalism, and Comms profs trying to define mine during the early Reagan years. They were just beginning to recognize what ownership consolidation, a fundamental building block of trickle-down, was already doing to how we communicate to audiences even then.
As a ’59er I always thought I was a baby boomer (1946-1964), but I see that I also fit generation Jones (1954-1965). I'd never heard of generation Jones before (so thank you, it'll be one of my ‘you learn something new every day’ items for today 🙂). However, one of the factors describing generation Jones is “not having grown up without a TV”. We didn't get a (B&W) TV until 1970, so I guess I didn't really grow up with one (to be fair, it does say “most”), although we did have a colour TV the year we lived in the US (the academic year ’67-8, in Champaign-Urbana (my dad was a mathematics professor and Champaign-Urbana (as was: it's now known as Urbana-Champaign, don't ask me why) is the site of the University of Illinois (UI). It's probably best known because the Chicago Bears moved to UI's Memorial Stadium in 2002, while their stadium, Soldier Field, was being rebuilt).
Generations seem to have become shorter since the boomers (qv https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation?wprov=sfla1) at around 15 years. I'd always thought that a generation it's really around 30 years, that being the age by which most people start their families, but I've also thought it to be a bit of a vague concept. In the social sciences it appears to be founded along major influential events experienced during the first 20 years of life, although the moon landings aren't mentioned, which I would have thought was one of the most monumental events of the 20ᵗʰ century: it really felt like the whole world was watching and united behind it, that it was seen as not just a US achievement, but one of all humanity. Anyway, I've always thought that boomers were one of the most diverse and largest generations, so it could well do with being separated. I'm not so sure I like being called a Jones though 😄.
Yes, thanks for the link! My sibs and I are '54-'62. Joneser's Dad's did the forgotten war, Korea, but their kids were mostly too young to know Kennedy or fight in Vietnam. We had the privilege of being old enough by the time personal computing came along (right after Disco, 🤮) to recognize that huge changes were coming on many new fronts , while Gen X'ers were still teething and my older sibs were still trying to preserve the '60's (and Disco!).
Ha! I only liked disco for a minute when I met a cute guy who took me disco dancing in '79. My four siblings are all younger ('63-'70) so I identify a little bit with GenX, but still felt out on my own a lot.
I'm 1962. That's roughly GenX-10 or so. Awkward. Early '60's babies have pretty much no cultural constituency, eg., we were old enough to hate disco, but we get treated like we invented it. 😑.
Anyway, I'm reading about how you define your role in new media and I keep thinking of my Mass Media, Journalism, and Comms profs trying to define mine during the early Reagan years. They were just beginning to recognize what ownership consolidation, a fundamental building block of trickle-down, was already doing to how we communicate to audiences even then.
They were preparing us for the inevitable.
Now the poor souls are spinning in their graves.
Late 1961 here. We're Generation Jones! https://www.politico.eu/article/generation-jones-and-the-new-era-in-global-leadership/
As a ’59er I always thought I was a baby boomer (1946-1964), but I see that I also fit generation Jones (1954-1965). I'd never heard of generation Jones before (so thank you, it'll be one of my ‘you learn something new every day’ items for today 🙂). However, one of the factors describing generation Jones is “not having grown up without a TV”. We didn't get a (B&W) TV until 1970, so I guess I didn't really grow up with one (to be fair, it does say “most”), although we did have a colour TV the year we lived in the US (the academic year ’67-8, in Champaign-Urbana (my dad was a mathematics professor and Champaign-Urbana (as was: it's now known as Urbana-Champaign, don't ask me why) is the site of the University of Illinois (UI). It's probably best known because the Chicago Bears moved to UI's Memorial Stadium in 2002, while their stadium, Soldier Field, was being rebuilt).
Generations seem to have become shorter since the boomers (qv https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation?wprov=sfla1) at around 15 years. I'd always thought that a generation it's really around 30 years, that being the age by which most people start their families, but I've also thought it to be a bit of a vague concept. In the social sciences it appears to be founded along major influential events experienced during the first 20 years of life, although the moon landings aren't mentioned, which I would have thought was one of the most monumental events of the 20ᵗʰ century: it really felt like the whole world was watching and united behind it, that it was seen as not just a US achievement, but one of all humanity. Anyway, I've always thought that boomers were one of the most diverse and largest generations, so it could well do with being separated. I'm not so sure I like being called a Jones though 😄.
Yes, thanks for the link! My sibs and I are '54-'62. Joneser's Dad's did the forgotten war, Korea, but their kids were mostly too young to know Kennedy or fight in Vietnam. We had the privilege of being old enough by the time personal computing came along (right after Disco, 🤮) to recognize that huge changes were coming on many new fronts , while Gen X'ers were still teething and my older sibs were still trying to preserve the '60's (and Disco!).
Ha! I only liked disco for a minute when I met a cute guy who took me disco dancing in '79. My four siblings are all younger ('63-'70) so I identify a little bit with GenX, but still felt out on my own a lot.