Latest generation has provisional name, generally irritating tendencies

In the Democrat and Chronicle yesterday, there was an interesting article by Sharon Jayson of the USAToday detailing the movement of a new generation that is slowly forming in the wake of the Millennials. Named by Larry Rosen, psychologist at California State University-Dominguez Hills, in his forthcoming book, Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn, the iGeneration (if the name catches) is noted by being ridiculously individualistic. Technology, new media, online social networking, even iTunes playlists have given way towards complete life customization. The generation of kids born sometime after 1990 (it's hard to tell exactly where and when generations start, Millennials are somewhere around 1980 - 1995) barely know a life without these options and technology.

Thus we live in an age where we can record and watch (and download) whatever shows we want, whatever music we want, and set up profiles everywhere, from Facebook to Myspace to Twitter or what-have-you. Everything is custom. This varies from even twenty or twenty-five years ago, when VHS live recording technology was just getting forward, and people generally had more general culture, that is, only watching shows live, only listening to car radio live and widespread (unless you had an 8-track). Our shared culture is disintegrating.

Now, this comes at any interesting point because of two very large records that just went down. That is, AVATAR's conquer of both Domestic and Worldwide Box Office, as well as Super Bowl XLIV's record for all-time most watched American Television Program. What's the reasoning then for this mass consumption? If iGeneration culture is so highly individualistic, why these massive record breakings? iGeneration, perhaps more than any other generation, is also highly consuming. They are born into a very prosperous America of the 1990s to very successful and established Baby Boomer and Generation X parents. They have a great wealth of insane disposable income, partly funded by growing Boomerang tendencies that have already afflicted the Millennials. So, while it is a highly customizable culture, it is also very insecure, materialistic and in need of constant acceptance and gratitude. These are of course generalizations, but the need to subscribe to a hip zeitgeist fuels this generation like no other. Thus, when movies like AVATAR or Valentine's Day, or whatever else comes out as a "must-see" for the culture, the entire generation still stands up and subscribes. In this way, although there is massive customization, all the customization occurs with high similarities, leading actually to a generally cohesive culture within itself. Of course, since we are just now able to fully analyze the Millennials, we won't figure out iGeneration's most basic trends for some time now.