Millennials Thats us, kinda.

By Suzi Bloom, Julene Jessel, Judy Tanner, Cami Lippert

What defines the

Millennial
generation?

Millennials (aka Generation Y or theMe generation) are

people reaching young adulthood around the 2000s, with
birth years ranging from the early 1980s to around 2000.

Okay but what about Millennials?

Were going to tell you all about the four main
characteristics of millennialism - selfie culture, the new
wave of intersectionality in feminism, social media
activism, and the rising popularity of ironic and nonironic memes.

1
Selfie-absorbed
Narcissism and the Selfie culture

Selfies are indicative of the Millennial

generation - theyre so focused on their
social media and their appearance, they
spend more time taking a selfie and
becoming insta-famous than getting a job.
-

Some old white dude, probably

History of the
Selfie
While the term selfie is relatively new, people have
been taking pictures of themselves for centuries.
Robert Cornelius produced a daguerreotype of himself in
1839 which is also one of the first photographs of a
person. He simply uncovered the lens, ran into the shot
for a minute or so, then replaced the lens cap.
Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was 13
when she took her own picture using a mirror to send to a
friend in 1914.
The term selfie was coined in 2002 on an Aussie
internet forum by Nathan Hope.

The growing rise

of selfies is used
by baby boomers
as proof of the
Millennials
narcissism.

The appeal of selfies comes from how easy they are to create
and share, and the control they give over how the subject
presents themselves. But, is it truly narcissistic to take pictures
of yourself? Even more importantly, is this a new concept?

Why the
narcissism
then, if its not
caused by
selfies?

Some blame coddling parents and social

media. But research from LiveScience
suggests that American culture has been
getting more and more individualistic for at
least a century, and it's likely that
socioeconomic structure is to blame.

2
Feminism
Intersectionality or bust

The
Intersectional
Feminist
Movement:

Rather than just the mostly white cis-feminism of the 50s,

Intersectional Feminism includes:
The LGBTQ+ Community

Ecofeminism

Supporting queer peoples and

subverting negative tropes.

The ideal that all women should

be paid equally for equal work.

Black Feminism

Sex-Positive

The difference between White

feminism and Black feminism.

Pushing for sex education and the

end of stigmatization and
fetishisation.

LGBTQA+

Lesbian
Gay
Bisexual
Trans
Queer
Ally

WAIT
THATs NoT
RIGhT

LGBTQA+

Lesbian
Gay
Bisexual
Trans
Queer

ASEXUAL

LGBTQA+

ECONOMIC
:
The Wage
Gap

ECONOMIC:
The Gender
Tax

BLACK
FEMINISM
WHITE Feminism v. BLACK Feminism


Black feminism is a school of thought which
argues that sexism, class oppression, gender
identity and racism are inextricably bound together.
The way these concepts relate to each other is
called intersectionality.

SEXPOSITIVE

Slut Shaming
Consent

Sex Education

3
Social Media
How communication and connections are
forged in a new technological world

A Place For Positivity

-Clearly, social media isnt always positive. But
when it is, its revolutionary.
-Different platforms such as youtube (specifically
Buzzfeed) provide positive reinforcement to show
its audience that they are not alone. Buzzfeed is
known for having Mental Health Week, Body
Positivity Week, and so on.

Place your screenshot here

An Outlet For Social Justice

-Media sites like twitter, tumblr, and instagram
allow teens to do much more than subtweeting or
posting selfies (shocking, I know).
-Social networking allows people to connect to
millions of different human beings and millions
of different mindsets.
-Our generation is more well-rounded because
weve seen these different opinions, and use the
same outlet to express our own.

A Connection To Inspiration
-Social networking connects us to the world! We
get an insiders view to news stories in a
completely new light.
-And, this information is INSTANT. And
MOBILE. We can continue with our lives and
still educate ourselves on issues.
-Were moving forward and learning every day,
creating the new generation into a generally more
caring and accepting breed of the human race.

Place your screenshot here

Why Its Important:

-Social Networking increases voter participation.
In 2010, Facebook users were reported as 43% more likely to say they would vote after seeing
their friends post about voting.

-Media helps solve crimes faster.

67% of federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals who were surveyed agreed that
social media helps solve crimes more quickly

-Finding employment is easier and more effective with Social Media.

1 in 6 job seekers give credit to social media for helping them find work.

-Social Media helps the economy.

Facebook estimated $1.26 billion for its third quarter in 2012, alone.

4
Memes
yeah

The Meme Revolution

meme: an idea, belief or belief system, or
pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a
culture either vertically by cultural inheritance
(as by parents to children) or horizontally by
cultural acquisition (as by peers, information
media, and entertainment media)
-

Urban Dictionary

Single Image Memes

Concept Memes

Meme
Categories

Character Memes
Music Memes

Memes Dependency on the Interwebs and the Millennials

Music Memes
Single Image
Memes
Memes such as Grumpy
Cat and Bad Luck Brian
involve a single
memorable picture that
symbolizes an overarching
theme (i.e. blatant hatred
or ridiculously bad luck).
These memes are more
often than not created by
millennials as a creative
and emotional outlet and
spread rapidly on Internet
websites such as Reddit (in
which post popularity
depends solely on
audience votes).

Quite possibly the most

millennial-dependent and
unifying of all memes,
music memes stem from
incredibly overplayed,
easily quotable songs that
all millennials listened to at
one point or another
unironically in the early
2000s. Some crowd
favorites are
Wonderwall, All Star,
My Heart WIll Go On,
and Bring me to Life.
Lyrics from these songs are
now often quoted because
we have all come to terms
with the fact that they are
so good, theyre bad.

Concept
Memes
Shrek, The Bee Movie,
Crocs, Comic Sans...all
concepts that have been
torn apart on social media
platforms but have
regained popularity
because of non
judgemental millennials
who gave them a second
chance. Concepts like
these are loved because
they are hated and hated
because they are loved;
these are the most complex
of memes.

Character
Memes
These memes differ from
single image memes
because the characters that
contribute to this meme
genre are not limited to a
single screen cap, but
instead many variations.
Using Pepe the Frog as an
example, we see he takes
on various forms and/or
emotions, some of which
are more common than
others. Character memes
have led to the development
of rare memes (which are
especially popular among
millennials)- when a form
of a particular character is
hard to come by.

Why being the meme generation is actually a compliment

Memes may look like nonsense, a good way to waste time for those with nothing else to do but surf all day. But
in reality, they are a major business. They change the way we live, shape popular culture and continually evolve
with the modern society. They hugely influence modern language and culture shaping how the youth and the
whole internet user community live...Promotions, advertising, and marketing professionals are embracing memes
because they are cheap and trendy not mentioning their unique characteristic of spreading like a virus. These
so-called memes have assisted in producing fortune and fame to many people. The meme phenomena subtly
represent the tones of modern social etiquette and culture.
-Allthingsdank.com
Researchers have difficulty studying memes, because unlike previous cultural phenomenons, the internet meme
does not have the problem of lacking cultural artifacts, but rather its exponential growth. Memes spread like
wildfire from social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg and Reddit...The lesson here is that we
cant force a meme to become a viral hit. You do have to rely on luck a little bit. Memes may bring you different
results than what you expected. To be honest, memes are more of an art than a science.

-1stwebsitedesigner.com
MEMES ARE TO MILLENNIALS AS FOSSILS ARE TO DINOSAURS AND WILL KEEP OUR
SOULS ALIVE LONG AFTER OUR GENERATION DIES OUT

QUESTIONS
1. When/where was the term selfie coined?
2002 ON AN INTERNET FORUM
2. What is blamed for the apparent
narcissism in the Millennial generation?
CODDLING PARENTS AND SOCIAL
MEDIA
3. What is the most likely actual reason for the
narcissism?
INCOME INEQUALITY
4. What does LGBTQA+ stand for?
LESBIAN, GAY, BI, TRANS, QUEER,
ASEXUAL
5. What are two main aspects of Sex Positive
Feminism?
SEX EDUCATION, SLUT SHAMING,
CONSENT

6. Per Dollar, what minority group is paid

more than white women but less than white
men?
ASIAN WOMEN
7. What is a meme?
an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern
of behavior that spreads throughout a
culture
8. Four types of memes?
Single image, music, concept, character
9. How much revenue did Facebook add to
the economy in its third quarter in 2012?
$1.26 BILLION
10. How many people reported Social Media
as helpful to their job findings?
1 IN 6